About 130 Bahamian evacuees are stranded on a devastated island after they were removed from a ferry to Florida because they didn’t have U.S. travel visas.
The evacuees were left homeless after Hurricane Dorian made landfall in Abaco Island, Bahamas last Sunday. Most of the homes on the island were destroyed by Dorian’s category 5 winds as high as 185mph.
400,000 are left without power, food or clean water to drink.
The evacuees were removed from the ferry at a harbor in Freeport after they were told they could board as long as they have a passport and no criminal record.
Before the ferry left, an announcement was made telling everyone without U.S. visas to disembark.
Investigative reporter Brian Entin for WSVN-TV was there covering the evacuation.
“Big problems on the ferry from Freeport to Florida — announcement just made that any Bahamian without a visa must now get off. This is not normal. Nornally [sic] Bahamians can travel to USA with passport and a printout of their police record. This is a mess,” Entin tweeted.
News footage from inside the ferry shows the chaos as hoards of people – including children and babies – exited the ferry, carrying all of their worldly possessions in bags.
Lawmakers pleaded with President Trump to waive the rules so the evacuees can board a ferry to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The Bahamas is not a U.S. territory like the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Big problems on the ferry from Freeport to Florida — announcement just made that any Bahamian without a visa must now get off. This is not normal. Nornally Bahamians can travel to USA with passport and a printout of their police record. This is a mess. pic.twitter.com/DESUm2qBGE
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) September 8, 2019
