Here’s an update on the “Surge at Sea: More Migrants Attempting Illegal Maritime Entry” story of January 31.
The sole survivor of that migrant boat sinking off the coast of Florida, Juan Esteban Montoya of Colombia, was hospitalized for several days following his rescue, suffering from dehydration. As of Monday, January 31, however, he has been discharged and released from detention by immigration officials. In precisely the wrong message to send other, would-be asylees, the Department of Homeland Security has granted Montoya U.S. residence until his petition is reviewed. No one believes he will ever be sent back to Colombia.
Instead, the 22-year-old will join his mother, reportedly an illegal migrant herself, in Houston, where she lives. Sadly, Montoya’s 18-year-old sister Camila will not be joining them. She was lost at sea along with the other 38 passengers who perished in the sinking.
The Washington Post reports that Montoya’s mother, Marcia Caicedo, left Colombia 11 years ago, when her children were about 11 and 7. Coming “in search of a better life” to the United States, she left her children to be raised by their grandparents. Their father visited them frequently, however, and Marcia herself “called often [and] sent them toys when they were young.”
Missing their mother and also desiring to experience American culture–“the music, the clothes, the people”–Montoya and his sister departed Colombia earlier in January, flying to the Bahamas, which doesn’t require a visa. Having made prior arrangements with a gang of smugglers, they then boarded a boat to Bimini for a short, two-hour trip that proved easy enough. From there, at about 10 pm on Saturday, January 22, they boarded another boat, along with several dozen men and women from Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic. There were no life jackets as had been promised, and the trip across to Florida began to appear increasingly risky. Several hours later, the boat’s motor failed and the weather worsened. Around dawn, a wave capsized the small boat.
About 15 passengers initially survived, clinging to the boat. Two of the smugglers, wearing life jackets, were picked up and promised to return but never did. One by one, the survivors–including Camila–let go and drowned, until only Montoya was left. He was eventually rescued by a passing tugboat.
It should go without saying that rewarding such illegal and highly dangerous behavior is no way to stop it. In theory–and according to the law–migrants apprehended at sea are supposed to be returned to their country of origin or embarkation. In tragic situations like this one, it is tempting to ignore the law, but doing so is short-sighted and in the long run makes more likely further such tragedies. As Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies commented on the decision to allow Montoya to remain in the U.S.:
[Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] is sending the same [worldwide] message his boss has been sending since January 20 of last year, which is: You have a good chance of getting into the U.S., so it’s worth taking the risk. The opponents of tight enforcement need to be called out for incentivizing tragedies like this.
Just as the Indian survivors of the tragedy along the Canadian border earlier in January were reportedly to be offered residence, rewarding dangerous and illegal activity only encourages it. Unfortunately, that seems to be precisely what our government wants.
For more, see the Washington Post.