Border Patrol Agents Arrested Haitian Migrants After Landing on Florida Beach

By Mary Webber (staff@latinpost.com) First Posted: Oct 27, 2021 11:32 PM EDT

Migrants, most from Haiti, depart a base camp towards the jungle in the infamous Darien Gap while on their journey towards the United States on October 07, 2021 at Las Tekas, Colombia. The passage, which can take up to a week, is considered the most dangerous stretch for migrants traveling from South America to the U.S. During the trip, torrential downpours lead to sudden river floodings, often resulting in migrant drownings along the way. More than 70,000 migrants have traveled through the Darien Gap this year, according to Panamanian authorities. Most of the migrants in recent months have been Haitians, many of whom had been living in Chile and Brazil since the 2010 Haitian earthquake. The Darien Gap is the 66-mile stretch of rainforest between North and South America where the Panamerican Highway was never completed due to severe terrain, enormous cost and myriad environmental concerns. (Photo : John Moore/Getty Images)

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 21 Haitian migrants, including men, women, and children, on Wednesday after landing at a South Florida beach.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson noted that the Border Patrol agents had responded to a smuggling incident in Sunny Isles, according to a Fox News report.

The spokesperson said in a statement that the Border Patrol agents arrested 21 migrants after an extensive search of the area. The agency added that the migrants will be interviewed and processed for removal proceedings.

One video posted online shows a group of people getting off a small boat on a mostly empty beach, with the people seeming to be running for cover once off the boat. CBP could not verify the authenticity of the said video.

Haitian Migrants in Florida

The Texas border and South Florida have been seeing an influx of Haitian migrants since September.

The state of Florida sued the federal government, demanding that the Biden administration retain people who claim asylum at U.S. borders instead of releasing them to their state while waiting for their court appearance, according to a Sun-Sentinel report.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order preventing any agencies from helping in any way what the federal government is doing.

Father Reginald Jean-Mary, pastor of Notre Dame d'Haiti Mission in Miami, said that there are no criteria for who stays in the United States and who gets deported. He asked why these migrants are not being granted due process where they can apply for political asylum.

The pastor said that they want the administration to stop the deportation and investigate the alleged abuses perpetrated against their brothers and sisters at the border. Jean-Mary added that "it's inhumane" and that "that's not what America is."

Border officials couldn't determine where exactly refugees were taken or where they ended up.

Reverend Doctor Keny Felix, a senior pastor of Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church in Miami Gardens, said that Haitian leaders are begging the Biden administration to put some policies in place.

Expulsions of Haitian Migrants

United Nations human rights experts condemned the United States' expulsions of Haitian migrants and refugees, saying that they created part of a policy of "racialized exclusion" of Black Haitians, according to a Reuters report.

Currently, the U.S. has returned hundreds of migrants from a camp in Del Rio, Texas to Haiti.

The experts said that the U.S. is subjecting Haitian migrants to forced returns and human rights abuse without any individualized evaluation.

Democrats and immigration advocates had also criticized the handling of the Haitian migrants, with some claims that Border Patrol agents were on horseback using whips on the migrants, according to Fox News.

UN experts said in a statement that the U.S. cannot label all migrants of certain nationality per se as threats to national security.

They added that all migrants, regardless of nationality, race, or migration status, must be given protections called under international law.

A spokesperson for the UN experts said that she was unaware that any legal challenge had been filed.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Haitian migrants repatriated to Haiti after being spotted off South Florida - from WPLG Local 10

Tags Haitian migrants, Florida beach, Border Patrol, Agents