Migrant Deaths at Sea in This Hemisphere Too

*A story of the perils of immigrant travel that doesn’t reach the headlines. VL


center for immigration studiesBy David North, Center for Immigration Studies

We were having a quiet dinner at a Washington hotel when the conversation turned to the deaths at sea of the migrants coming from Africa to Italy.

“This happens all the time in the waters between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and the press never covers it,” said the former Border Patrol agent.

[pullquote]“At night sometimes you can smell them before you see them.”[/pullquote]

“There are about 80 miles of open sea between the island of Hispaniola (that’s Haiti and the DR) and the west coast of Puerto Rico; it is called Mona Passage because of the uninhabited island in the middle of it, Mona,” he continued. “There are lots of yolas that take illegal aliens from DR to Puerto Rico, and a lot of them don’t make it.”

“Yola” is the term used by the Border Patrol to describe the hastily constructed, shoddy wooden boats, usually with a single outboard motor, built for this trade.

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[Photo courtesy of Center for Immigration Studies]
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