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The renowned crystal-clear waters of the Bahamas act as a "springboard" for illegal immigration to South Florida, an expert said.
Fox News Digital spoke with retired Rear Adm. Peter Brown, former Homeland Security advisor to President Donald Trump, about illegal immigration from the Bahamas to Florida.
"Normally, when we think of maritime migration, we think about Haiti or Cuba, maybe the Dominican Republic, but the unknown in that equation is the Bahamas," he said.
"The Bahamas presents a special case, not so much because Bahamians want to get to the U.S., although a few do, but because the Bahamas ends up being a springboard for others who want to reach the U.S."
Miami Beach, Fla. (iStock)
Brown, who was the commander of the Coast Guard's Seventh District in Miami, said the tropical archipelago serves as a transit point for illegal immigration and human smuggling due to its geography and tourism-friendly policies.
The Bahamas consists of more than 700 islands, with some only 50 miles from Florida's coastline. The proximity, combined with the abundance of recreational boats, makes illicit travel hard to detect, Brown explained.
"In addition, the Bahamas' economy is so dependent on tourism they offer visa-free travel to citizens of 160 different countries around the world," he said.
The availability of visa-free travel is in sharp contrast to the U.S., which allows people from only 40 countries to travel visa-free.
"The difference is that the Bahamas offers visa-free travel to people from Russia, people from China, people from El Salvador, Guatemala, from Venezuela, from Nicaragua, from Jamaica, from Brazil," Brown said. "And there are many people from those countries who want to come to the United States."
This enables individuals from these countries to enter the Bahamas legally and attempt illegal entry into the U.S., he explained.
Mansions and luxury yachts along the canals of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Todamo/Getty Images)
Arrival areas in the US
Once they leave the Bahamas, many migrants target the coastlines of South Florida due to their proximity and the presence of established migrant communities, Brown said.
He said many head to Monroe County (Florida Keys), Miami-Dade County, Broward County, Palm Beach County, Martin and St. Lucie counties.
South Florida counties like Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach have some of the highest living costs in the state, with median home prices often exceeding $500,000. Martin and St. Lucie Counties, which are more northern, are less expensive.
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After reaching the "goal line," Brown explained, there is often a "cycle of crime" that continues.
"What often happens is that people paying migrant smugglers are already part of the community on the Florida side, funding the journey for a relative, family member or friend to reach the United States," he said. "This is frequently accompanied by a form of indentured servitude, where migrants must work to repay the smugglers, creating a cycle of crime that often goes unnoticed."
A vessel used by Cuban migrants is intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. (U.S. Coast Guard)
Additionally, the Bahamas' military does not have the resources to properly manage the vast maritime area, he said.
"Their Royal Bahamian Defense Force, while they're professional and cooperative, particularly with the United States Coast Guard, they just don't have the resources," he said. "They have the equivalent of 12 police cars, boats, to patrol an area the size of California."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.
The Bahamian military works with the U.S. Coast Guard, which allows the agency to patrol the water and airspace for drug and migrant threats.
"That relationship allows us to thwart those threats on the Bahamian side of the straits rather than wait for them to approach the Florida coast," he said.
While the cooperation between the Bahamas and the U.S. helps mitigate the human smuggling and illegal immigration threat, it does not eradicate it.
A report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection summarized nationwide migrant encounters by month and by demographic group for fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2025 (to date, as of April 3, 2025) in the Miami Sector.
Read the Customs and Border Protection report:
From fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2024, total migrant encounters in the Miami Sector rose from 2,766,582 in 2022 to a peak of 3,201,144 in 2023, before slightly decreasing to 2,901,142 in 2024.
As of March, fiscal 2025, there have been 531,440 encounters recorded.
Notably, the report highlights the dominance of single-adult apprehensions, which fits how many migrants arrive at the Florida shorelines after traversing the 50-mile stretch between the U.S. and the Bahamas.
Lighthouse guarding the port of Nassau, Bahamas (iStock)
‘Thousands try, hundreds die’
Brown, who also served as Trump's special representative for Puerto Rico's disaster recovery, said the best strategy is to deter migrants from making the trip.
"The deterrent effect of President Trump, DHS Secretary [Kristi] Noem, border czar Tom Homan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the clear message that the border is closed," he said. "Illegal migrants will be caught and repatriated, and the crimes of human smuggling and trafficking that accompany this will be vigorously prosecuted."
Brown emphasized the human cost of illegal maritime immigration and the rationale behind strict border enforcement as a life-saving strategy.
"Thousands try, hundreds die, because every year we see multiple cases of folks capsizing, running aground and people drowning," he said. "And it's very unfortunate. And so the deterrence message actually saves lives."
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"If we can, by deterrence, prevent people from ever setting sail, from hiring a migrant smuggler who has no regard for human life, if we can do that, then we'll save lives, and we'll reduce the number of these dangerous ventures."
