101 Dalmatians Haitians

From the Sun-Sentinel-

HOLLYWOOD – Officials said more than 100 Haitians migrants aboard a wooden fishing boat landed on the city's southern beach Wednesday morning. At least nine were hospitalized and at least one person died in the crossing.

The dilapidated 30- to 35-foot single-mast sailboat ran aground a short distance north of Hallandale Beach Boulevard and A1A shortly before 7 a.m. The rickety boat and its human cargo quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.

TV cameras showed a number of passengers jumping into the rough surf and swimming a short distance to the nearby shore. Some appeared weak, disoriented and seasick.

All were taken to a nearby Hallandale Beach fire station where officials said they counted 101 people, including at least two teenagers and one 10-year-old.

101 is actually quite a large amount. It is usually a couple of score. For those familiar with Haitian smuggling, they usually come to the US after a stopover in the Bahamas.

Rick at SOTP writes-

We're going on 6 years since 9/11. 6 years for George W. Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress to secure our borders. And yet, and yet...101 Haitians in a sailboat can still drift ashore undetected. I am totally aware that security is never 100%. But this isn't a midnight run. This isn't a go-fast speeding across the Gulfstream. It's a sailboat in broad daylight drifting onto Hollywood Beach. In full view. With TV cameras running.

I wouldn't be blaming Bush or the Coast Guard so fast. This news from three months ago flew underneath alot of radar screens.

KEY WEST - The U.S. Coast Guard, one of the key lines of defense in the Florida Straits on homeland security, drug smuggling and migrant interdictions, took eight of its 10 Key West-based patrol cutters out of action indefinitely Thursday because of structural problems.

The decision, announced by the Coast Guard's top commander, Adm. Thad Allen, who flew to Key West to tell crews personally, will create a hole in surveillance and law enforcement of the Florida Straits at a potentially critical time, with the failing health of Fidel Castro.

That was on December 12th and I don't know if any of the cutters have been back into service since. All in all, I'm not surprised today's event doesn't happen more often.

Linked to- Cao, Pursuing Holiness, Right Wing Nation,