MIAMI — WPTV has a new look at migrant encounters off the coast of Florida.
The U.S. Coast Guard is just wrapping up its 40-day patrol of the Florida Straits, and we're learning a lot from this long-term mission and getting an idea about just how active migrant landings there have been to start 2023.
During that 40-day patrol, the cutter Confidence encountered nearly 500 migrants. The 40-day mission wrapped up over the weekend.
We continue to see migrant encounters up and down the Florida coast to start 2023. It was just last week that more than 100 migrants were intercepted south of Key Largo.
Back of Feb. 3, at least 19 people were stopped off the coast of Jupiter. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office helped stop that boat. All of the migrants were turned over to U.S. Border Patrol.
The cutter boat housed at Port Canaveral deployed alongside a Homeland Security task force to conduct counter drug operations and help ensure maritime safety.
In January, the governor's office estimated that since last August, there were more than 8,000 migrants encountered off the Florida coast.
