Illegals from Russia and Kazakhstan were illegally brought to Florida by boat - ForumDaily
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Illegals from Russia and Kazakhstan illegally brought to Florida by boat

Undocumented migrants from Russia and other former Soviet countries were smuggled April 3 into Key West, Florida, authorities said. TheWashington Post.

Photo: Shutterstock

This has raised concerns that the war in Ukraine is prompting refugees and others to seek dangerous new routes to the United States.

Alison Crean, a spokeswoman for the Key West Police Department, said the boat, chartered from Cuba, docked at the south end of Duval Street, in the heart of the city's tourist district, around 16:00 pm on April 3.

Crean said Key West police were called after about 15 migrants, whom she identified as coming from Russia or other countries, entered the Southernmost Beach Cafe. Police alerted the Department of Homeland Security and its unit, US Customs and Border Protection, to the migrants' beaching.

“They moored to the pier there, disembarked and went to a cafe,” Crean said.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on April 4 afternoon that 15 migrants from Russia and a couple of former Soviet republics were smuggled into Key West on a fishing boat and taken into custody by US Border Patrol. Nine are from Russia, four are from Kazakhstan and two are from Kyrgyzstan, officials say, all of whom are in the process of being deported.

On the subject: 'From laptops to underwear': Russian soldiers smuggle loot in Ukraine home via Belarus

DHS said the incident was an example of "marine smuggling".

"Smugglers don't care about the lives of migrants, and too many people die at sea when migrants embark on a dangerous journey in makeshift boats, rafts and other vessels ill-equipped to handle rough waters," said DHS spokesman Eduardo Maia Silva.

According to him, "anyone who tries to enter the United States by sea without a legal basis for entry will be expelled."

Officials in Monroe County, which includes Key West and the rest of the Florida Keys, said witnesses told them that the 15 migrants who showed up at the cafe may have been part of a larger group of about 40 who traveled by boat with Cuba. DHS did not respond to questions about whether officials are looking for other passengers or crew and what happened to the boat.

Other migrants are believed to have been from Russia. They left before CBP agents arrived on the scene, county officials said. Although Monroe County officials are accustomed to Cuban migrants landing in the Florida Keys, they said this is the first time they have encountered migrants from Russia or Eastern Europe crossing the Strait of Florida into the United States.

"This is something different and new," Monroe County Mayor David Rice said, adding that officials initially viewed the landing as a "national security event."

“All we do when migrants of any nationality land is to ensure their safety, but these people were not like ordinary migrants,” Rice said. “They were well dressed and were on a chartered boat.”

Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsey said the migrants, many of whom were carrying luggage, arrived in a 9-foot boat. He said there were "some questions" about how many more passengers, if any, left before they could be detained.

Ramsay warned that it is premature to view the incident as a possible broader trend in migration patterns. Local authorities did not know if the group had recently fled or had been in Cuba for some time.

“Anything is possible, but we need more data, intelligence, to understand what it is,” Ramsay said, adding that he thought most of the migrants were from Russia and he didn’t think there was an ongoing threat of such landings.

Shannon Weiner, director of emergencies for Monroe County, said the FBI is also assisting CBP and the Department of Homeland Security in investigating the incident.

Lieutenant Commander Jason Neiman, a US Coast Guard spokesman, said the Coast Guard is "aware of the incident and is assisting" other federal agencies. Neiman said he was unaware of the Coast Guard intercepting other migrant ships at sea, including refugees or migrants from Russia or Ukraine.

Nestor J. Iglesias, a spokesman for Homeland Security Investigations, DHS' investigative arm, said the agency was "looking into the matter" but declined to comment further about the "ongoing investigation."

Ukrainian refugees and their families in the United States are becoming increasingly frustrated with trying to bring their relatives to this country. On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that hundreds of refugees from Ukraine had gathered at the US border in Tijuana, Mexico, joining refugees from around the world.

Last month, President Biden said the United States would accept up to 100 Ukrainian refugees, but the administration has yet to find a way to do so.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 4 million people have left Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of Russians are also believed to have fled the country to escape economic sanctions and Russian President Vladimir Putin's crackdown on internal dissent against the war. Russian citizens have also been stranded in countries around the world after airlines canceled flights to and from Russia.

Traditionally, the admission process for migrants and refugees into the United States requires multiple security checks that can take months or years to complete.

Prior to Biden's announcement last month, fewer than 700 Ukrainians and eight Russians were recognized as refugees from October 1 to February 28, State Department records show.

Customs and Border Protection has faced a large number of Ukrainian and Russian citizens at air, land and sea ports and borders this fiscal year, including in Florida, where the number rose from 92 in October to 434 in February.

CBP has faced more than 19 people from both countries since the start of the fiscal year on October 000, most of them from Russia. According to the Department of Homeland Security, many Ukrainians have received temporary status, known as parole, for humanitarian reasons.

The Biden administration has been warning migrants from countries such as Cuba and Haiti for months not to risk drowning on the dangerous journey by sea.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

Alejandro Majorcas said in July after the social unrest in Cuba that "there is no good time to attempt migration by sea".

“Let me be clear: if you go to sea, you won’t get to the United States,” Mallorcas said at the time, days later, as nine Cubans disappeared at sea after their boat capsized about 40 kilometers southeast of Key West.

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