At least 30 illegal immigrants were picked up by police and V.I. National Park officers Thursday after coming ashore at Leinster Bay on St. John.
According to a V.I. Daily News report, a resident called police to report the immigrants, of whom 19 were from Haiti, three from the Dominican Republic and nine from the Palestinian territory in the Middle East. Those apprehended Thursday numbered 26 men and five women, the report said.
The men and women were charged with illegally entering the United States and were turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Nearly 500 illegal immigrants were known to have entered the U.S. Virgin Islands last year, far surpassing the total of 1999.
