PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — One of nine Haitian migrants arrested earlier this week after a sailboat beached near Juno Beach, previously entered the country illegally, according to federal court records.
A Homeland Security Investigations agent said Guiroochee St. Jean was previously processed for expedited removal after it found him trying to illegally cross into the United States along the Rio Grande Valley during November 2023.
WATCH: Migrant deported a year before being arrested in Juno Beach
The agent said he was flown back to Haiti from Miami in January 2024.
About a year later, the agent said a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy found him walking on the sidewalk along A1A, where he appeared wet and covered in sand the same day the boat was visible. He then told the deputy, who stopped his car near the man, that he was from Haiti and trying to see his wife in the United States.
St. Jean was appointed an attorney from the Office of the Public Defender, because he faces up to two years in prison after being accused of illegal reentry after deportation or removal.
WPTV hasn’t found court documents for the other eight migrants taken into custody and these documents don’t indicate who brought these individuals into the country.
WATCH BELOW: 9 migrants in custody after sailboat comes ashore in Juno Beach
WPTV reached out to St. Jean’s public defender, who didn’t return our request for comment.
According to data from the Department of Homeland Security, the border “recidivism rates” have grown over the past decade. The most recent data in 2021 from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection found 27% of individuals were apprehended more than one time within the same fiscal year.
