© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Click here for information on transmitter status in the Treasure and Magic Valleys

Coast Guard intercepts, detains thousands of migrants off Florida coast

As the White House haggles with senators over changes to the immigration system, there’s a largely invisible immigration crisis playing out off the coast of Florida.

You may not think of the Coast Guard as an immigration agency, but off the shores of Florida, Coast Guard agents are intercepting and detaining thousands of migrants, including kids traveling alone. Most of them are Haitian. Since Haiti’s president was assassinated in the summer of 2021, the Coast Guard has detained more than 27,000 people seeking protection on American shores.

Their claims are processed aboard Coast Guard ships, far from public view.

Seth Freed Wessler investigated this system for ProPublica and speaks to host Scott Tong about what he found.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.