The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force apprehended 440 migrants in 2025, a steep drop from 2,019 in 2024, as interceptions fell sharply across Cuban, Haitian and mixed-nationality routes tied to the Bahamas–Florida corridor.

The figures show 84 Cuban nationals were intercepted on the Cay Sal Banks by United States Coast Guard cutters and the RBDF while attempting to reach Florida. Another 64 Haitian nationals were intercepted on routes from Haiti to The Bahamas.

The largest share involved 292 migrants of mixed nationalities who, according to the figures, entered The Bahamas as tourists before travelling to the Northern Bahamas — particularly Bimini and Grand Bahama — where they were allegedly being smuggled to the United States. Those migrants were intercepted by United States Coast Guard cutters and repatriated to Grand Bahama.

In total, the RBDF recorded six events involving Cuban nationals, one involving Haitian nationals, and 24 human smuggling events involving mixed nationalities.

The latest numbers extend a downward trend reported by the Defence Force. In 2024, the RBDF said migrant apprehensions fell 37 percent to 2,019 from 3,201 in 2023. Then RBDF Commodore Raymond King said there was a “general decline observed in 2024 compared to previous years, which was likely attributed to the Temporary Protected Status and two-year Residency Sponsorship Policies in the US for Cubans, Haitians, and Venezuelans in particular”.

The reduced 2025 figures came as the US Coast Guard announced earlier this year it was surging assets — including cutters, aircraft, boats and specialised forces — to strengthen maritime border security across key regions, including Florida, US territories, Alaska, Hawaii, the US–Mexico borders, and The Bahamas–Florida corridor, to deter illegal migration, drug smuggling, and other hostile activity, in coordination with Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense teammates.