Vacation hot spot used as 'springboard' for illegal immigrants: expert

The renowned crystal-clear waters of the Bahamas enactment arsenic a "springboard" for amerciable migration to South Florida, an adept said.

Fox News Digital spoke with retired Rear Adm. Peter Brown, erstwhile Homeland Security advisor to President Donald Trump, astir amerciable migration from the Bahamas to Florida.

"Normally, erstwhile we deliberation of maritime migration, we deliberation astir Haiti oregon Cuba, possibly the Dominican Republic, but the chartless successful that equation is the Bahamas," helium said. 

"The Bahamas presents a peculiar case, not truthful overmuch due to the fact that Bahamians privation to get to the U.S., though a fewer do, but due to the fact that the Bahamas ends up being a springboard for others who privation to scope the U.S."

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Miami Beach, Fla. (iStock)

Brown, who was the commandant of the Coast Guard's Seventh District successful Miami, said the tropical archipelago serves arsenic a transit constituent for amerciable migration and quality smuggling owed to its geography and tourism-friendly policies.

The Bahamas consists of much than 700 islands, with immoderate lone 50 miles from Florida's coastline. The proximity, combined with the abundance of recreational boats, makes illicit question hard to detect​, Brown explained. 

"In addition, the Bahamas' system is truthful babelike connected tourism they connection visa-free question to citizens of 160 antithetic countries astir the world," helium said.

The availability of visa-free question is successful crisp opposition to the U.S., which allows radical from lone 40 countries to question visa-free.

"The quality is that the Bahamas offers visa-free question to radical from Russia, radical from China, radical from El Salvador, Guatemala, from Venezuela, from Nicaragua, from Jamaica, from Brazil," Brown said. "And determination are galore radical from those countries who privation to travel to the United States."

This enables individuals from these countries to participate the Bahamas legally and effort amerciable introduction into the U.S.​, helium explained.

Mansions and luxury yachts on the canals of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Todamo/Getty Images)

Arrival areas successful the US

Once they permission the Bahamas, galore migrants people the coastlines of South Florida owed to their proximity and the beingness of established migrant communities, Brown said.

He said galore caput to Monroe County (Florida Keys), Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, Martin and St. Lucie counties.

South Florida counties similar Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach person immoderate of the highest surviving costs successful the state, with median location prices often exceeding $500,000. Martin and St. Lucie Counties, which are much northern, are little expensive.

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After reaching the "goal line," Brown explained, determination is often a "cycle of crime" that continues.

"What often happens is that radical paying migrant smugglers are already portion of the assemblage connected the Florida side, backing the travel for a relative, household subordinate oregon person to scope the United States," helium said.  "This is often accompanied by a signifier of indentured servitude, wherever migrants indispensable enactment to repay the smugglers, creating a rhythm of transgression that often goes unnoticed."

A vas utilized by Cuban migrants is intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Additionally, the Bahamas' subject does not person the resources to decently negociate the immense maritime area, helium said.

"Their Royal Bahamian Defense Force, portion they're nonrecreational and cooperative, peculiarly with the United States Coast Guard, they conscionable don't person the resources," helium said. "They person the equivalent of 12 constabulary cars, boats, to patrol an country the size of California."

Fox News Digital reached retired to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.

The Bahamian subject works with the U.S. Coast Guard, which allows the bureau to patrol the h2o and airspace for cause and migrant threats.

"That narration allows america to thwart those threats connected the Bahamian broadside of the straits alternatively than hold for them to attack the Florida coast," helium said.

While the practice betwixt the Bahamas and the U.S. helps mitigate the quality smuggling and amerciable migration threat, it does not eradicate it. 

A study from U.S. Customs and Border Protection summarized nationwide migrant encounters by period and by demographic radical for fiscal 2022 done fiscal 2025 (to date, arsenic of April 3, 2025) successful the Miami Sector.

Read the Customs and Border Protection report:

From fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2024, full migrant encounters successful the Miami Sector roseate from 2,766,582 successful 2022 to a highest of 3,201,144 successful 2023, earlier somewhat decreasing to 2,901,142 successful 2024. 

As of March, fiscal 2025, determination person been 531,440 encounters recorded.

Notably, the study highlights the dominance of single-adult apprehensions, which fits however galore migrants get astatine the Florida shorelines aft traversing the 50-mile agelong betwixt the U.S. and the Bahamas.

Lighthouse guarding the larboard of Nassau, Bahamas (iStock)

‘Thousands try, hundreds die’

Brown, who besides served arsenic Trump's peculiar typical for Puerto Rico's catastrophe recovery, said the champion strategy is to deter migrants from making the trip.

"The deterrent effect of President Trump, DHS Secretary [Kristi] Noem, borderline czar Tom Homan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the wide connection that the borderline is closed," helium said. "Illegal migrants volition beryllium caught and repatriated, and the crimes of quality smuggling and trafficking that travel this volition beryllium vigorously prosecuted."

Brown emphasized the quality outgo of amerciable maritime migration and the rationale down strict borderline enforcement arsenic a life-saving strategy.

"Thousands try, hundreds die, due to the fact that each twelvemonth we spot aggregate cases of folks capsizing, moving aground and radical drowning," helium said. "And it's precise unfortunate. And truthful the deterrence connection really saves lives."

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"If we can, by deterrence, forestall radical from ever mounting sail, from hiring a migrant smuggler who has nary respect for quality life, if we tin bash that, past we'll prevention lives, and we'll trim the fig of these unsafe ventures."