It was a daunting task of life and death. But there was nothing I could do. He doesn't apologize for doing whatever it takes to find a better life. No matter the cost in human lives. Transporting boat people has become big business in Haiti, with the potential for millions of dollars in profits.
Smugglers make their riches by banking on desperation.
Now they are young kids. The Haitian boat people who washed up on Florida's shores by the thousands during the last two decades were mostly displaced peasants fleeing political violence who jumped on flimsy boats with little planning. But with more surveillance of U.S. waters and stricter immigration laws, the stakes are rising. To make it work, smugglers have to do more. That means getting passengers to the isolated shores of Tortue Island, placing them in safe houses on the island until the boat is ready for departure, whisking them away in cars if they're lucky enough to reach dry land and housing them in Miami until the smuggled passengers can pay off their debt.