MIAMI – Migrants painted a prayer on the side of their navy blue wooden boat.
The U.S. Coast Guard released a photograph of the boat with over 20 migrants on Tuesday reporting crews intercepted it off the Alligator Reef, east of Indian Key, near the Matecumbe Keys.
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“God will guard your exit and entrance now and forever,” the sign written in white paint reads in Spanish.
The Coast Guard crew from the Islamorada station distributed neon orange live vests to the group of men and women.
“Illegally migrating on unsafe vessels w/o safety equipment is dangerous.” a Coast Guard spokesperson wrote on Twitter. “Small craft advisories are being instituted for incoming weather. #DontTaketotheSea.”
During the fiscal year 2022, the Coast Guard interdicted more than 12,000 Haitian and Cuban migrants in the Caribbean, according to federal data.
President Joe Biden’s administration implemented a pre-approval system for refugees and asylum seekers while attributing the rise in maritime migration to the economic turmoil that has increased desperation in Cuba and Haiti.
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#Breaking @USCG Sta. Islamorada's crew stopped this vessel from illegally landing in the U.S., Tues., off Alligator Reef.
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) February 28, 2023
Illegally migrating on unsafe vessels w/o safety equipment is dangerous. Small craft advisories are being instituted for incoming weather. #DontTaketotheSea pic.twitter.com/DZUpw2kkuw
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