Each day, dozens of men, women and children cram themselves onto a boat or a homemade raft, setting sail on a very slow and extremely dangerous journey across the Florida Straits. They try to reach U.S. soil before they sink or run out of food.
Hampton Roads is approximately 1,000 miles away from the Florida Straits and the Caribbean Sea, which serve as the primary maritime routes for mass migrations of people fleeing Haiti's political instability and Cuba's crumbling economy. But local Coast Guard members could not be closer to it as they spend months at sea, plucking the desperate out of the ocean and off over-burdened boats.
“We see these people so desperate — we come across these folks from Haiti who have likely paid smugglers for transportation, hoping to get to the United States… They have nothing to lose. When they leave, I think they understand the risks of making this trip,” said Cmdr. Brooke Millard, commanding officer of Coast Guard Cutter Bear.
The U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Cutter Forces is based in Hampton Roads, deploying Coast Guard members throughout the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Eastern Pacific oceans. There are nine 270-foot cutters homeported in Portsmouth and two 210-foot cutters at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, with approximately 950 personnel total.
As the United States' maritime law enforcement agency, the Coast Guard enforces…
