The US Coast Guard repatriated 63 of 66 migrants to the Dominican Republic after intercepting them on Friday in a makeshift vessel in the Mona Passage, the agency said on Tuesday. The repatriation was completed on Saturday, when the crew of the coast guard cutter Winslow Griesser transferred the migrants to two Dominican Navy vessels, Bellatrix and Acrux.
Three migrants remain in federal custody facing an investigation and possible charges under federal statute 8 U.S.C. § 1326 for attempted illegal reentry; the Coast Guard did not say whether the three had been previously deported. An HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft detected the overloaded 30-foot vessel about 70 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla during a routine patrol on Friday afternoon.
Sector San Juan diverted the Winslow Griesser and deployed an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen. Of the 66 migrants, 59 said they were Dominican citizens (55 men and four women) and seven said they were Haitian (six men and one woman). Lieutenant Alex Kearney, commanding officer of the Winslow Griesser, warned that such voyages are extremely dangerous and that anyone in migrant smuggling operations can face prosecution and imprisonment.
The operation is part of maritime surveillance under operations Vigilant Sentry and Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the federal Homeland Security Task Force created by Executive Order 14159, which in San Juan includes the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), CBP, DEA and the Coast Guard.