The United States Coast Guard repatriated 65 illegal Caribbean migrants travelling in overloaded vessels off the West Coast of Puerto Rico between Sunday and Wednesday.
The Coast Guard repatriated the illegal migrants to the Dominican Republic.
On Monday, Cutter Joseph Napier’s crew embarked 21 migrants who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals.
Four male group members face Federal prosecution in the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico on various charges.
The Coast Guard transported the remaining 17 migrants to Dominican Republic territorial waters and transferred them to a Dominican Republic Navy vessel for repatriation.
On Saturday, Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez interdicted an overloaded vessel carrying 48 migrants approximately 60 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
The crew embarked the migrants, who claimed to be Dominican Republic nationals and completed their repatriation to the Dominican Republic.
From October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023, the Coast Guard has carried out 67 unlawful irregular maritime migration voyage interdictions in the Mona Passage and waters near Puerto Rico.
Interdicted during this period were 2,161 non-U.S. citizens.
They included 1,871 Dominican Republic nationals, 264 Haitians, 15 Venezuelans, 7 Kazakhs, 1 Albanian, 2 Colombians, and one individual of unknown nationality.
