Michael Jules, an America des Cayes professional soccer player, searches for his passport among the remains of his grandmother’s collapsed house, in Maniche, Haiti, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, a week after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Forty-two Haitian migrants are taken into custody in South Florida after authorities intercepted a group coming to shore. On Tuesday afternoon, Border Patrol stopped boats filled with women, men and children from Haiti.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent Thomas Martin, authorities apprehended the migrants near Key Biscayne when they were detained.
Alexandra Audate, an immigration attorney and also Haitian American, said the migrants arrival is not surprising amid the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti earlier this month.
Update: 42 Haitian nationals were taken into #BorderPatrol custody following the event this afternoon. The event is currently under investigation. The vessel involved will be seized. We appreciate all of the support from our partner agencies. #breakingnews #florida #haiti
— Chief Patrol Agent Thomas G. Martin (@USBPChiefMIP) August 24, 2021
Audate went on to say the people are going through a lot right now and they are just trying to survive. She said there’s a possibility they could see due process instead of being sent back immediately.
“My hope is that all 42 of them will be given a parole and be released to their relatives, their friends, their loves ones,” stated the attorney. “And that they have the opportunity to be heard in court in a non-detained setting.”
Officials are investigating how the group got into the U.S. and as for the boat they were captured on that has been seized.
Source: One America News Network
