First by sea, now by air: What the numbers tell us about illegal immigration in Florida

More than 275 migrants from Haiti recently crammed into a sail freighter to attempt a dangerous voyage to U.S. shores in Florida, only to be stopped by federal authorities while at sea.

They are among thousands of undocumented migrants from Haiti and Cuba who have packed into overloaded, unsafe vessels to attempt the voyage to Florida this year, but were turned away before making it to shore.

Now immigrants from those countries, and many others, are instead presenting themselves to authorities at Florida airports and seaports to seek entry into the United States, rather than attempt the dangerous journey by sea amid heightened enforcement.

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Officially released federal statistics show that undocumented immigration dropped significantly overall for the U.S. in June, for the second consecutive month following the end of Title 42 on May 11. Meanwhile in Florida, an upward trend in the number of encounters at airports and seaports have been reported in recent months after a state-level crackdown on migrant vessel landings in January.

"People sometimes say, 'You're not a border state.' We're not a border state on the Mexico border but we are a maritime border state, so we have boats trying to come from places like Haiti and Cuba to illegally come into the state of Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a roundtable about immigration during a campaign stop in Texas on June 7.

Illegal immigration to Florida remains high, despite restrictive policies

For about three years, the Title 42 health law gave authorities the ability to quickly deport undocumented migrants, without an opportunity to request asylum, on the grounds of public health because of COVID-19.

A surge leading up to the end of Title 42 on May 11 led to an immediate drop in the aftermath. Most of the drop came between checkpoints along the U.S.-Mexico border, where Border Patrol agents encountered with 171,387 encountered illegal border crossers in May and 99,545 in June, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics.

The Washington Post reported that preliminary July numbers show a bounce-back in July with 130,000 encounters with illegal border crossers at the southwest border by U.S. Border Patrol.

Encounters in Florida have also shifted away from illegal maritime border crossings to a drastic increase in the amount of encounters at official ports of entry, like airports and seaports.

Authorities reported 162,709 encounters so far this fiscal year in Florida alone, compared to 35,349 encounters in all of the FY 2022.

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DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Jan. 6 in response to a surge in migrant vessel landings from Cuban and Haitian nationals on Florida shores, and deployed Florida Division of Emergency Management, National Guard and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission personnel and resources to support federal authorities.

The presidential hopeful has touted the effort's success in curbing migrant vessel landings during his campaign, as well as new immigration laws approved in Florida this year that aim to keep undocumented immigrants out of the state.

Yet federal officials in Florida continue to see a high number of encounters with undocumented migrants this fiscal year, although the state's new immigration laws only took effect on July 1.

CBP records show most undocumented migrants encountered in Florida through June of this fiscal year, 157,186, have come through airports and seaports – at times presenting fraudulent documents, no documents at all, or who have travel visas but ask for asylum upon arrival instead. Most of those migrants have come from Haiti, 40,449, Venezuela, 40,176, Cuba 32,818, Nicaragua, 16,186, and Ukraine, 6,218.

Americans for Immigrant Justice Director Shalyn Fluharty said it is difficult to pinpoint reasons for the shift in statistics. Efforts to expand parole programs available to migrants from certain countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and other countries by the Biden administration could be a factor. AI Justice is one of several advocacy organizations challenging Florida's new anti-immigration law in court.

Fluharty said a migrant's final destination could be Florida, or other parts of the country with connecting flights traveling through international travel hubs like the Miami International Airport.

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Under new federal rules migrants who present themselves at legal ports of entry to seek asylum or parole programs would be denied if they previously traveled through Mexico, entered without inspection, or tried to journey by sea. Asylum petitions from anyone caught crossing into the United States illegally will also be denied outright.

Fluharty said parole cases are more favorable in court than asylum, because asylum petitioners must defend their case to remain in the United States in the face of deportation.

For parole, qualifying individuals must have a financial supporter in the U.S., pass national security vetting, and fly at their own expense to an interior port of entry rather than a land port of entry like the southwest Mexico border, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"The need to flee persecution and torture in each of these countries is growing, and individuals who have an immediate need for safety and protection often cannot get access to parole programs quick enough to keep them safe," Fluharty said.

Thousands interdicted at sea

While encounters with immigrants crossing directly into Florida have seen a rise, officials say increased enforcement offshore has caused the many maritime migrant vessel landings on Florida beaches the start of this fiscal year to drop significantly.

There were 4,677 encounters by U.S. Border Patrol on Florida shores with undocumented immigrants from Cuba and Haiti between October and January this fiscal year. But that number has seen a sharp drop since then, with just an additional 846 between Feb. 1 through June 30.

At the same time offshore the Coast Guard interdicted 5,528 Cuban migrants while at sea between Oct. 1 through Jan. 31 this fiscal year, but that number also dropped to just an additional 1,338 Cubans interdicted since then through July 18. The flow of Haitian nationals interdicted at sea has remained more steady, with 2,513 Haitian migrants interdicted between October and Jan. 31, and an additional 2,576 between Feb. 1 and July 18.

"We've had a little bit of an uptrend in numbers these ... but that's kind of how it goes. It's really in surges," Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Estrada said in mid-July. "It's almost a solid state period when it's just a constant one or two interdictions a week, then you have other weeks where there is a couple of vessels but nothing out of the ordinary."

Estrada highlighted recent interdictions like that of a vessel carrying 275 migrants from Haiti about 26 miles east of Cuba on July 16, as he described crammed and unsafe conditions aboard vessels transporting migrants by sea.

"In terms of Haiti, more often than not they come on sail freighters, which are rather large vessels, and they are stacked on top of each other, the top and bottom is filled with people," he said. "They are everywhere on that vessel, any sort of space that they can make room they are on it."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida sees shift in illegal immigration: What the numbers tell us