Smugglers continue to spread fake news and show total disregard for the safety and welfare of vulnerable migrants who venture into the Mona Passage,” Agent Desi DeLeon, chief of the Ramey Sector Patrol, assured.

The officer warned migrants of the continuing dangers of such a journey.

In the afternoon hours of September 16, Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources rangers stationed on western Mona Island reported the presence of migrants on the upper part of Monito Island.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircraft flew over the island and registered the presence of over 20 people.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Dixon on Tuesday recovered 31 Haitian nationals – 25 men, four women and two minors – and transported them to the Mayaguez port of entry in western Puerto Rico, where Border Patrol agents from Station Ramey took custody for deportation proceedings.

Barren Monito Island is uninhabited and its high elevation off the coast makes it inaccessible by sea.

The Ramey Sector is one of twenty-one sectors spread across the United States and encompasses the U.S. territorial islands of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is also the only Border Patrol Sector located outside the United States mainland.

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