U.S. Repatriates 651 Haitians Intercepted at Sea

Thirty-seven other Haitians were held aboard a Coast Guard cutter while U.S. officials reviewed their requests for political asylum, Coast Guard spokeswoman Lindy Johnson said.

The Haitians were intercepted at sea aboard three dangerously crowded wooden sailboats on Friday and Saturday. They included more than 60 children and a woman 7 months pregnant.

The boats were so rickety the Coast Guard sank them after removing the passengers, Johnson said.

Thirteen-year-old Amones Pierre set out with his aunt aboard one of the boats and was among those returned to Port-au-Prince. Asked if he realized how dangerous it was to set sail in such a vessel, he said no.

"My aunt just told me we are going to Miami, where life is more beautiful," he said.

Smith Francois, 18, said he would try to leave again because he had no opportunities in Haiti.

"My parents cannot help me. I have not even been at school and I don't have a future here, so I will leave by the next opportunity," Francois said.

Johnson said some passengers had paid up to the equivalent of about $400 to board the boats -- more than the yearly per capita earnings in impoverished Haiti.

U.S. agencies stepped up their patrols off Haiti to prevent mass migration to Florida during the armed rebellion that drove Aristide into exile on Feb. 29, and President Bush warned those intercepted at sea would be sent back.

Tuesday's repatriations brought to 1,591 the number repatriated since the uprising began, but there has been no mass exodus.

Haitian migrants who reach the United States are almost always repatriated. While Cubans intercepted at sea are also sent home, a special law allows most Cubans who reach U.S. shores to stay and apply for permanent residency.

A tragedy last week underscored the danger in attempting the voyage in homemade wooden boats. Local radio reported that nine Haitians were killed and 10 were missing after their boat collapsed shortly after they left the Haitian island of La Gonave for Miami.

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