Caribbean 360 reports that law enforcement authorities have held yet another group of Haitians trying to get into the Bahamas. Deportation is imminent and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell laments the financial implications of deportation.

Over the weekend, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force apprehended a sloop west of Ragged Island with an undisclosed number of Haitian migrants on board. Some local reports indicate there were more than 100 illegal immigrants on the vessel.

They were transported to New Providence and handed over to immigration authorities for further investigation.

Just last week, eight Cubans were apprehended as they were travelling in a makeshift vessel in the Gulf Stream, west of West End, Grand Bahama.

So far this year, the Defence Force has apprehended, or assisted in apprehending, almost 1,000 migrants who illegally entered the Bahamas.

Earlier this year, Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell lamented that having to repatriate illegal immigrants was “an annoying, consistent and expensive problem”.

“Instead of spending money on ports, roads or airports, we have to spend on trying to deport illegal immigrants to their homes,” he told Parliament in April.

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