Florida beachgoers were left stunned by migrants brazenly sailing a boat up to shore and taking off illegally into the state.
A group of migrants was seen in social media posts as they clambered out of a 30-foot sailboat that arrived on the shore of Hollywood Beach Saturday morning.
“The sun came up, and them boys came up,” one stunned witness on the beach near Coolidge Street told WSVN.
“We thought that something crashed or something, and 10 people jumped from [the] boat,” another beachgoer who said his name was Leo told the station. “We asked, ‘Do you need help?’ They don’t speak with us.”
The vessel appeared to have some damage to its hull. Video posted on social media showed at least three people getting out of the boat and struggling through the crashing waves to get to shore.
He said they called 911 and Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived on the scene. Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection also responded.
“I’m not shocked. It’s not the first time,” witness Jennifer DeJesus told WSVN.
“Local news camera captured Hollywood police working painstakingly to remove the more than two-ton vessel Saturday, before giving up and leaving it moored on the beach,” Daily Mail reported.
“The boat remained there well into Sunday, before being removed with excavators,” the outlet added. “Officials with the Department of Homeland Security who are handling the investigation have yet to say whether any of the men seen in the circulating footage are in custody. Their probe continues.”
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Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Adam Hoffner said agents were investigating the “suspected maritime smuggling event.”
Last year, Miami Sector Border Patrol agents responded when an illegal migrant boat landed near Jupiter, Florida. The agents arrested 17 migrants, mostly from Haiti, in that incident after the boat was pursued by helicopter.
A boat full of illegal immigrants arrived on the shores of #Jupiter, #Florida pic.twitter.com/pWnXlwympj
— Dada Shastoni (@DadaShastoni) August 28, 2023
In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he was sending additional soldiers, boats and other craft to the Sunshine State’s coasts in anticipation of illegal migrant activity.
“For quite some time, the State of Florida has been dedicating significant resources to combat illegal vessels coming to Florida from countries such as Haiti,” the Republican leader said at the time.
“Given the circumstances in Haiti, I have directed the Division of Emergency Management, the Florida State Guard, and state law enforcement agencies to deploy over 250 additional officers and soldiers and over a dozen air and sea craft to the southern coast of Florida to protect our state. No state has done more to supplement the (under-resourced) U.S. Coast Guard’s interdiction efforts; we cannot have illegal aliens coming to Florida,” he added.
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Author: Frieda Powers
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