April 1, 2002 – Five Cuban nationals were apprehended on Easter Sunday afternoon as they came ashore on St. John near a popular tourist site.
According to a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the men were picked up around 2 p.m. by V.I. National Park police at Leinster Bay, a relatively remote location near Annaberg Plantation.
The park police notified INS officials on St. Thomas, according to Ivan Ortiz, public relations officer for the immigration service regional office in San Juan. Ortiz said information provided to his office indicated that the five were first spotted around 1 p.m. and that they surrendered without incident.
Although Cubans often try to enter the United States illegally in Florida, Ortiz said, it is rare to find them the shores of the Virgin Islands. Ilegal aliens from China, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Colombia top the INS list of those trying to get into the country from the Eastern Caribbean, he said. Most are dropped off from boats under cover of night.
Federal agents took the five men into custody late Sunday afternoon and transported them to St. Thomas. Illegal immigrants usually are given a quick appearance in District Court for an advice of rights hearing, but by Monday morning, the court clerk's office said no hearing had been scheduled.
With the security of U.S. borders under increased scrutiny since the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, INS scrutiny has been stepped up. But Ortiz said the INS focus on Virgin Islands immigration has not changed much, and the resources for checking incoming vessels remain slim. Would-be illegal immigrants are "going to continue trying to get into the country, and some are going to be successful," he said.
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