Pete: "Hey Jay- there are 50 people on the front porch. They want breakfast and a ride to Miami."
He was downstairs, looking out the front window.
I rolled out of bed and looked out the second floor window.
There were people all over the place- out by the PV array, near the lighthouse, and even a bunch in front of our house.
It looked like a lot of them had the same blue-shirt-blue-pants kind of uniform...
I wondered for a minute if it might be the folks off the Eagle, but no... there were old folks and kids in the group.
Definately Cubans.
Crap.
I grabbed the radio and we headed out to deal with the situation.
I went to the group to find the leader, or at least to find someone who spoke better English than my poor Espanol. Pete took the flag out to the flagpole while I started working with the group.
"Are we in the United States?"
This was answered as Pete put up the flag. There was a round of cheers and applause as the flag went up over the island.
Then the questions really started...
The Loggerhead/Dry Tortugas Cuban
Frequently Asked Question List.
1. Where are we?
Directly above the center of the Earth.
2. Will we be sent back to Cuba?
No, unfortunately.
3. Do you have anything to drink?
Yes, here's a bottle of water.
4. We'd rather have Coke.
So would I.
5. It's not cold. Do you have cold water?
Yeah, it's right here in my pocket, next to the Eskimo Pies and the Popsicles.
6. Ice?
You're kidding.
7. What is going to happen to us now?
Boat to Garden Key, then a Coast Guard Cutter, then a bus to Krome.
7a. Krome Detention Center? I hear it is a prison.
I only wish it was so...
8. How are you going to get us to Miami?
Oh, it's MY problem now?
9. How long is it going to take?
Forever, if you keep up with the dumb questions
10. We're hungry.
Me too
11. Can we use your telephone?
Sure, here's my cell. Go nuts.
12. Is there a TV here we can watch while we wait for the boat to arrive?
No, but here's some shovels. Let's go dig up one of the old chugs.
13. We want to use the bathroom.
...and people in hell want ice water.
14. My clothes are wet/covered in fuel. I want new clothes.
I know this might shock you, but they closed the Loggerhead location of "The Gap" last week. Sorry.
15. Are you sure you don't have a nice ice cold Coke somewhere?
Sure. It's on the bus in Key West.
16. We're bored.
You need more shovels?
17. When will the boat be here?
Not soon enough.
18. We're hot. We want air conditioning.
Don't we all.
At about question number 4 I begin to lose my tolerance for the whole thing...
We had 53 people in two distinct groups. One group was picked up off a dock outside Mariel at about 3 in the afternoon the day before.
The other group said they had been underway for 3 days in a home-made boat.
The motor didn't work so they rowed for a long time, then they were picked up by a fishing boat.
They had all been dropped off around 1:00 AM on the southwest shore of the island.
Interestingly- We had been shooting photos of a lightning storm off to the south of the island that night. I saw a light on the horizon that wasn't acting like a typical recreational vessel or commercial fishermen...
Night exposure on the 21st
I told Pete that I thought it was acting wierd...That it was probably a chug or something.
The Eagle was still offshore on the west side of the island and lit up like a Christmas tree. I thought that might deter any landings.
I guess I was wrong. (Like THAT never happens. heh)
One thing we've learned is that, as a rule, the migrants can be deceptive and vague about their details. They want to be seen as having undergone a severe hardship in the crossing...
For instance- for the group that had "been in the boat for 3 days" showed no symptoms of exposure. Having seen the results of long-term exposure to sun and saltwater, these folks were not on the water for 3 days.
The other thing is that they didn't want the boat that dropped them off to get caught, so they were not going to give any details that might identify the boat.
So, we checked them for basic first-aid needs, got them some water and got them into the shade. Then we called the Rangers over at Garden Key.
They called the Department of Homeland Security (the US Coast Guard is part of DHS) to find out how we were going to get them off the island.
We got the standard reply- "We'll get back to you."
We asked if the Eagle might be able to assist with them migrants, but got a big "no" on that that idea... They are training to tie knots and trim sails, not deal with real-world issues like migrants and interdiction.
Rangers Roper and Donnely arrived on Loggerehead Key in short order and began the next step of processing them.
After the Rangers searched them for contraband and weapons, we still hadn't heard from DHS, so we began the transport process to take the migrants over to Garden Key.
We made several trips to get them all off Loggerhead.
The USCG Cutter "Hawk" showed up about 2:00 and we transferred the migrants to the cutter, then headed back to Loggerhead.
One of the other issues with a Cuban landing is the manpower expenditure needed to deal with the situation. Pete and I assisted in securing the migrants over on Garden Key, and assisting with getting the migrants from Garden Key to the Coast Guard cutter.
It took 8 hours for myself, Pete and Rangers Roper and Donnley to deal with the landing, and a good 4 hours from Bob on Garden Key to assist.
We still had a full day of stuff to do over on Loggerhead...
The entire process takes a huge chunk of time out of everyone's day...time that is needed to ensure proper operation of the park.
In addition to the park's lost time and resources, there is the issue of fuel and manpower and equipment by the USCG. Do you have any idea of the cost in fuel, people and equipment used to come pick up the migrants? 10 guys, a big boat that burns diesel fuel at a high rate of consumption...
How about the per person costs of taking a Cuban migrant into the mainstream of the US population
Did you know that migrants get between $5,000 & $8,000 dollars each in "starting out money"? They get 3 years of free medical care? Food stamps? Tax Exempt status for 3 years?
Does any other immigrant group get this kind of benefits package?
I'll get off my soapbox now...
We had to pull double duty on the 23rd... to make up for the lost day on the 22nd.
TBG out (walking the beach, AGAIN)
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