The story goes on under the ad “They tied up at a pier there, disembarked and went into the cafe,” said Crane, who referred further questions to federal investigators. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Monday afternoon that 15 immigrants from Russia and a couple of former Soviet republics had sneaked into the Keys on a fishing boat and were detained by U.S. Border Patrol. Nine are from Russia, four are from Kazakhstan and two from Kyrgyzstan, officials said, and all are in the process of deportation. DHS said the incident was an example of “maritime smuggling”. “Smugglers do not respect the lives of migrants and too many lives are lost at sea as people make the perilous journey with makeshift boats, rafts and other ships not equipped to handle the turbulent waters,” said DHS spokesman Eduardo Maia Silva. . he said in a statement. The story goes on under the ad “Anyone ‘attempting to enter the United States by sea without a legal entry point will be deported,’” he said. Officials in Monroe County, which includes Key West and the rest of the Florida Keys, said witnesses told them the 15 migrants who showed up at the cafe may have been part of a larger group of about 40 people who traveled by boat from Cuba. . DHS did not answer questions about whether officials were looking for other passengers or crew and what happened to the boat. The other passengers, most believed to be from Russia, left before CBP agents arrived at the scene, county leaders said. Although Monroe County officials are accustomed to Cuban immigrants landing in the Florida Keys, they said it was the first time they had encountered immigrants from Russia or Eastern Europe crossing the Florida Straits to the United States. The story goes on under the ad “This is something new and new,” said Monroe County Mayor David Rice, adding that officials initially viewed the landing as a “national security event.” “All we ever do when we have land for immigrants of any nationality is make sure they are safe, but these people were not like ordinary immigrants,” Rice said. “They were well-dressed, on a chartered boat and had not been abducted for a week.” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said the migrants, many of whom were carrying luggage, arrived in a 30-foot-long boat. He said there were still “some questions” about how many, if any, of the passengers were “scattered in the community” before they could be arrested. Ramsay warned that it was premature to consider this incident as a possible broader trend in immigration patterns. Local authorities did not know if the group had recently escaped the war or had been in Cuba for some time. The story goes on under the ad “Everything is possible, but we need more data, information or landings to show that this is unusual for an anomaly,” Ramsay said, adding that he believed most of the migrants were from Russia and did not believe there was a constant threat. for the public. Shannon Weiner, director of emergency management for Monroe County, said the FBI is also assisting the CBP and the Department of Homeland Security in investigating the incident. The FBI referred questions to DHS. Lt. Jason Naiman, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, said the Coast Guard “is aware of the incident and is assisting” other federal agencies. Neiman said he was not aware that the Coast Guard had banned other migrant ships at sea that included refugees or migrants from Russia or Ukraine. The story goes on under the ad Nestor J. Yglesias, a spokesman for Internal Security Investigations, a DHS research arm, said in a statement that the agency was “examining the matter” but declined to comment further on the “ongoing investigation”. Ukrainian war refugees and their families in the United States are becoming increasingly frustrated with efforts to bring their relatives to this country. On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that hundreds of Ukrainian refugees had gathered at the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico, to join refugees from around the world. The story goes on under the ad More than 4 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a month ago. Tens of thousands of Russians are also believed to have fled the country to escape economic sanctions and the crackdown on domestic dissent by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian citizens have also been trapped in countries around the world following the cancellation of flights to and from Russia by airlines. Traditionally, the process of accepting immigrants 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, less than 700 Ukrainians and eight Russians had been accepted as refugees between October 1 and February 28, State Department records show. The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for updates following Biden’s announcement. The story goes on under the ad Customs and Border Protection has met more Ukrainian and Russian nationals at air, land and sea ports and borders this fiscal year, including Florida, where the number rose from 92 in October to 434 in February. The CBP has met more than 19,000 people from both countries since the start of the financial year on October 1, the majority from Russia, close to last year’s total of more than 22,600. Most entry ports show CBP records. Many Ukrainians have been admitted to a temporary regime known as conditional humanitarian aid, according to the Interior Ministry. The Biden government has been warning migrants from countries such as Cuba and Haiti for months to avoid the risk of drowning by making the perilous voyage by sea, which is far less common than attempting to cross the land border into Mexico. Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mallorca said in July after the social unrest in Cuba that “it is never the right time to try to migrate by sea.” “Let me be clear, if you go to sea, you will not come to the United States,” Mayorkas said at the time, days after nine Cubans disappeared at sea after their boat capsized about 26 miles southeast of Key West.
