Illegal immigrants interrupt model's Miami beach shoot on as they jump from boat and storm towards the shore
- Ekaterina Juskowski was filming her model friend on the beach at about 6am on July 10 when she noticed the boat in the background
- She turned off the camera, thinking it was scuba divers, but quickly started filming again when she saw them men run toward shore without the boat
- Experts believe migration via boat like Juskowski saw is driven by criminal trafficking rings
A group of undocumented immigrants interrupted a model's video shoot in Miami Beach this month as they ran from a boat to shore in the back ground of where the woman was filming.
Ekaterina Juskowski was filming her unnamed friend stroll down the beach in a sequined dress at about 6am on July 10 when she noticed a boat approaching the shore.
At first, she thought it was scuba divers so she stopped the video, but she soon realized it was about nine migrants running toward the sand.
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Ekaterina Juskowski was filming her model friend stroll down Miami beach when she noticed a boat in the background and turned off the camera
She soon turned the camera back on, however, when she realized what she was seeing was undocumented immigrants run toward the sand of Florida
When she saw the men pour out of the boat, leaving it behind in the water, she turned her camera back on.
'That's a testament to how confident these organizations are - what we call transnational criminal organizations - who smuggle criminals and narcotics right onto the beach,' U.S. Border Patrol spokesperson Frank Miller told the New Times Broward-Palm Beach.
'There has been an increase in known maritime smuggling in Florida - from Key West all along the Florida coast - from fiscal year 2014 to now,' he said.
Juskowski, who migrated from Russia when she was just 18 as a university student, said watching the men made her 'personal struggle seem rather small'.
'As controversial as the problem of illegal immigration can be for many of us, it is important to remember that people come here in search of the better life, and it comes at a very high price of great courage, hard work, and loneliness,' she said.
The approximately nine men dashed out of the water toward the high rise hotels and other buildings in the area
She added: 'I got to know America as a country with a big heart. While I trust it to the U.S. government to work out the policies on improving the immigration laws, it feels natural to stay compassionate and understanding on a personal level.'
Experts believe that migration via boat like the incident Juskowski saw is driven by organized trafficking rings, who gather clients from the Bahamas, Jamaica and Haiti and bring them to the Florida coast.
They coordinate with people already in the United States to help the migrants get settled, experts believe.
Miller said that the coastline in Florida is so extensive that 'it's impossible to cover with just Border Patrol agents', so the organization has teamed up with the Coast Guard, law-enforcement agencies and foreign allies.
Still, however, 'it's difficult to get a solid level of situational awareness on what's coming in,' he said.
Juskowski ended her video by turning the camera back to the boat, which the men had left floating in the water with no anchor
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