US Coast Guard rescues 14 Dominican boatpeople

Santo Domingo.- Fourteen undocumented Dominican boatpeople were returned to the country Friday by the U.S. Coast Guard, after being rescued from a disabled boat, while on their way to the U.S.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the agents rescued the immigrants from a 23-foot boat in the Mona Passage, off the coast of Aguada, Puerto Rico, Wednesday night. There were 20, including one minor, four females and 16 males.

The report said the authorities in Puerto Rico received a cellular phone call from the disabled vessel alerting them of the ongoing distress. The crew of the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from the Air Station Borinquen found the boat.

There were 17 boatpeople from the Dominican Republic and three from India. The U.S. Coast Guard said three Dominican men were not returned because this was not their first journey. They face charges in Puerto Rico for attempting illegal re-entry into the U.S.

The Coast Guard Cutter Richard Dixon repatriated the remaining 14 Dominicans to the Dominican Republic during an at-sea transfer of the migrants to a Dominican Navy patrol vessel Friday just south of La Romana.