25504: Hermantin(News)Haitian migrants detained after they dock boat near Riviera Beach (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Haitian migrants detained after they dock boat near Riviera Beach


Sun-Sentinel
By Leon Fooksman
Staff Writer

June 27, 2005

Eight Haitians were picked up in neighborhoods mostly in Palm Beach Shores on 
Sunday morning after they docked a boat in Phil Foster Park near Riviera Beach, 
authorities said.

Investigators said they think that at least another 10 people got away, 
including as many as four who jumped into a waiting car and were driven west on 
Blue Heron Boulevard.

The refugees most likely arrived from the Bahamas before 10:30 a.m. and left 
the 28-foot boat docked at a construction area in Phil Foster Park, said Art 
Bullock of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

After landing, they scattered from the park.

"They pulled up on the boat, and off they went," Bullock said.

The seven men and one woman taken into custody were not injured, Bullock said.

They were taken to the Krome Detention Center in southwest Miami-Dade County, 
where they will face hearings.

Deputies and police from the Sheriff's Office, Riviera Beach and Palm Beach 
Shores searched nearby neighborhoods for about four hours using a helicopter 
and patrol cars.

Officers also stopped cars to search for passengers but found no other 
refugees.

Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6647.


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