Immigration hurdles await hurricane-weary Bahamians

After about 100 Bahamian refugees were told to get off of a ferry headed to Fort Lauderdale, officials scrambled Monday to eliminate immigration barriers for those fleeing the islands ravaged by Hurricane Dorian.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott led the charge, sending out a news release that said, "current visa situation in Bahamas must be clarified."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection then announced it is expediting immigration processes so Bahamians can enter the country quickly.

"That doesn't mean we do this with a blind eye," said acting CBP commissioner Morgan said at a White House briefing. "We still have to balance the humanitarian need and assistance of those that need it versus the safety of this country."

One requirement presently is for Bahamians to have a valid passport, but. for some, those precious documents washed away in the storm.

The killer category-five storm packing 225 mph wind gusts leveled the northern islands in the Bahamas, leaving in its wake little shelter, limited food and water, and rotting corpses in the sweltering heat.

The death toll from Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas stood at 43 Monday afternoon as hazmat teams searched for bodies. An unknown number of people were still missing and about 70,000 Bahamians are homeless.

Still, the hurricane weary, many who are now homeless, have made there way to South Florida in the last week by cruise ship, ferry and small aircraft. Many have said they plan only to regroup, possibly leave young children with family here, and then head back home to rebuild.

But clearly immigration impediments remain when a ferry reacted to a request from Customs officials by kicking Bahamians back to shore.

The refugees were told they could come to the U.S. through a screening process that required only a Bahamian passport and proof they did not have a criminal record.

The Bahamians stood in the suffocating heat, jockeying to get a spot on the ferry.

But just as the ferry was to embark to Fort Lauderdale, an announcement blared over the boat's intercom: "Please, all passengers that don't have a U.S. visa, please proceed to disembark."

Brian Entin, an investigative reporter with Miami TV station WSVN, broke the story that quickly made headlines nationwide. He tweeted out an interview with Renard Oliver

"At the last minute like this, it's kind of disappointing," said Oliver, who held his infant daughter. "It's hurtful because I'm watching my daughter cry, but it is what it is."

Customs said the decision to remove the passengers was on the ferry operator, Balearia Caribbean. The agency said in a statement that it asked the operator to coordinate with U.S. government and Bahamian officials.

The ferry operator, the agency said, then made the decision on its own to shuttle people off the boat and leave for Fort Lauderdale.

Scott and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio last week asked President Trump to waive visa requirements for Bahamians but that has not yet occurred.

"It's important Customs and Border Protection and the Bahamian government work together to clarify the current rules regarding visas in the Bahamas," Scott said in a statement on Monday.

"As hundreds of thousands of Bahamians seek refuge or start to rebuild after Hurricane Dorian, we cannot have the kind of confusion that occurred last night in Freeport."

He said immigration professionals should be on site to help the many Bahamians trying to leave destruction.

On Saturday, 1,100 hurricane refugees arrived in Riviera Beach at the Port of Palm Beach aboard a Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line ship.

Anita Mitchell, former head of the county GOP and current spokeswoman for Bahamas Paradise, said that those they transported all had passports, visas and clean police records. Only a handful didn't have families in South Florida.

Mitchell said sometimes the cruise line will lobby Customs on behalf of Bahamian whose passport had expired. But for many those documents washed away during Dorian.

Bus driver Anthony Morley, 61, told Reuters his passport was lost in the hurricane's storm surge and feels stuck. "What I need is a house. I don't have a bed, a refrigerator. I don't even have a Bible," he said.

jpacenti@pbpost.com

@jpacenti

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