St. Maart: Hold 'im, Joe

PHILIPSBURG - Curaçao authorities returned 32 Haitian nationals to St. Maarten Monday morning, less than 24 hours after local immigration officials deported them for attempting to enter here with forged documents on Saturday.

On instructions from the Ministry of Justice, St. Maarten has been asked to hold the illegals until Wednesday, when "hopefully" they can be flown to Haiti via Curaçao.

According to police spokesman Inspector Geronimo Juliet, the problem with holding the illegals in Curaçao appeared to be a question of space to keep them until a flight is available to accommodate all the passengers.

The 32 Haitians were detained at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) Saturday afternoon while attempting to enter the island with forged visas.