Hundreds of evacuees fleeing the devastation from Hurricane Dorian were asked to exit a ferry destined for Fort Lauderdale. In a video posted Sunday on Twitter by Miami-based Fox affiliate WSVN reporter Brian Entin, an announcement is heard aboard the ship, telling refugees fleeing Dorian\u2019s devastation that additional paperwork was required to enter the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Entin\u2019s post, Bahamians were originally told that all they would need was a passport and a clean police record, but the ship was stopped before leaving hurricane-ravaged Freeport, Grand Bahamas Island, some 110 miles east of Miami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We boarded these passengers with the understanding that they could travel to the United States without visas,\u201d said Baleria Caribbean, the ferry company that was tasked with transport. \u201cOnly to later having been advised that in order to travel to Ft. Lauderdale they required prior in-person authorization from the immigration authorities in Nassau.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a report by CNN, Bahamian evacuees were allowed to enter the United States without visas, something they backed up by stating that Custom and Border Protection (CBP) websites state that visas are not required for Bahamian residents flying to the U.S. from the Bahamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Entin, in a follow-up tweet after interviewing CBP agents, said that they \u201c[would] have accepted and processed the Bahamians\u201d going on to blame Baleria Caribbean for the snafu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump, in a statement delivered Sept. 9 referred to the incident saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to allow people that weren\u2019t supposed to be in the Bahamas to come into the United States. Including some very bad people and some very bad gang members and some very, very bad drug dealers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n