U.S. border officials warn Michigan's 'Jobbie Nooner' attendees to report boats
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said it wanted to give a fresh reminder to Canadian or other foreign boating enthusiasts on the way to the annual event with their small pleasure vessels to Gull Island on Michigan's Lake St. Clair that failure to report their boats on arrival in the United States may lead to "significant penalties," such as fines, vessel seizures or even prison in some cases.
"If you do not follow the reporting requirements and enter the United States illegally, you will be prosecuted, and your vessel will be seized," said John R. Morris, CBP's sector chief patrol agent in Detroit.
The Mardi Gras-like "Jobbie Nooner" surrounding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-created Gull Island in Lake St. Clair claims it is one of the world's biggest boat parties.
The event, which is not formally organized, is experienced twice a year and held the Friday before the July 4th weekend, with its second the first Saturday of September. The events attract thousands of participants.
On Friday, Jobbie Nooner's 45th event event kicks-off, with September 6 slated as the year's second.
Jobbie Nooner attracts in multitudes of seasoned but, according to officials, also inexperienced attendees piloting a boat or other water vehicle, with some that will be seen coming-and-going during daily festivities while others at night will tent up to let the night continue.
"The thing is, it's kind of an unmanageable event, and we have not endorsed it -- ever," Deputy Steve Campau, a spokesman for the St. Clair Sheriff's Office, told Detroit Free Press five years ago as the COVID-19 pandemic raged on.
Many states have adopted tougher laws for drunken boating.
In 2010, Michigan lawmakers deliberated a bill, which ultimately became law, to lower the state's permissible blood-alcohol level for boating to the 0.08% threshold to match the state limit on motor vehicle drivers.
Meanwhile, officials in America's frontline border agency pointed to "innovative" and now "faster" ways for foreign visitors to make the required face-to-face arrival reporting a task more convenient via smart phone or other device.
The federal government says any operator of a small vessel arriving in the United States from a foreign port includes "any vessel which has visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise outside territorial waters."
It suggested U.S.-bound Jobbie Nooner participants consider utilizing CBP's ROAM app -- free on Apple App and Google Pay -- which is able to satisfy a boat operator's U.S. legal obligation to check-in with American authorities in person.
Exceptions, however, include travelers who require CBP's I-94 form to track arrival and departure of non-American citizens, those mandated to pay import fees and "other circumstances as applicable," according to federal law.
The agency added that the good old-fashioned telephone can still be used by Jobbie Nooner boating officiants to locate the nearest CBP office in order to report in the United States on arrival.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump's ‘big beautiful bill' will make the immigration court mess even worse
Recently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Sayed Naser, an Afghan man who had spent years translating for the U.S. military, as he left an immigration court hearing in San Diego. Naser had done everything we ask of those seeking safe harbor in the U.S. When Taliban fighters killed his brother and abducted his father from a family wedding for working with the U.S., Naser and his family fled to Brazil, then made the long and dangerous trek here on foot. In 2024, he made an appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as he entered the country. There, government officials paroled Naser into the U.S., where he applied for asylum and a Special Immigrant Visa created for foreign nationals who work with the U.S. in a war zone. On June 11, 2025, Naser went to his first hearing before an immigration judge, as was required for his asylum application. When he arrived, however, a lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security claimed that his case had been 'improvidently issued.' Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents waiting outside the courtroom handcuffed him. He is now in immigration detention, and his wife and children are in hiding. Although shocking, Naser's case is sadly no longer unusual. Since May, as part of their effort to meet a 3,000 person per day quota, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the country have been arresting hundreds of people as they leave their immigration hearings. Arresting people in and around courthouses used to be largely off limits — and for good reason. Such practices mean that immigrants face an impossible choice: go to court to follow the law and apply for immigration or asylum status legally — and face possible arrest there and then, or fail to appear, give up your legal claims to asylum or a green card, and have the judge order deportation in your absence. There is another, much less visible way that immigrants' access to the courts is now in peril as well. If Trump's budget reconciliation bill passes as written, immigrants and asylum seekers like Naser will face exorbitant fees that will prevent almost everyone from having their day in court. Under the bill, people paroled into the United States would have to pay a $1,000 fee upon entering plus a $550 work authorization fee. To renew or extend parole — which people would have to do at least every six months — there would be an additional $550 fee. Then, to apply for asylum, there would be another $1,000 fee. And if an applicant needed more time to find a lawyer or to collect documents, the court would charge another $100 for each continuance the person requested in court. Similar fees would apply for people applying for other kinds of status, including for youth traveling alone and for people fleeing countries decimated by war or natural disasters. Naser — who walked to the U.S. on foot from Brazil — almost certainly does not have thousands of dollars to apply for asylum. Neither most other immigrants and asylum seekers. These fees would effectively deny access to the courts for all but the very wealthy. Arresting people as they try to do the right thing by going through our legal system — and charging them such high fees that no one can afford to go to court — undermines the rule of law that is the bedrock of our country. Due process, which is enshrined in the Fifth and 14th amendments to the Constitution, requires that the government prove its case in court and give individuals the right to be heard before it can deprive them of life, liberty or property. Due process protects not only the rights of immigrants (or citizens mistaken as immigrants) from unfair deportation, but it also requires the government to prove its case against someone before imprisoning them, to go to court before taking someone's property or benefits, and to hold a hearing before removing a person's child. Courts play an essential role in our society. Their purpose is to ensure that everyone is treated fairly under the law and insist that the government follows fair procedures. They place a critical check on abuses of power by the executive and legislative branches. When due process breaks down and people can no longer access immigration courts — whether for fear of what will happen when they appear or simply because the price tag to access justice is too high — that will further stoke fear in immigrant communities and dissuade people from asserting their rights in court. But it should also strike fear in all of us because when access to justice is threatened for some, it is a threat to our entire system of justice, which is a grave threat to us all. Lauren Jones is the Legal and Policy Director at the National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law School
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Feds arrest scores in $14 billion Medicare/Medicaid fraud. South Florida high on list
As always, the numbers boggle the mind. The Justice Department on Monday unveiled new healthcare fraud charges against 324 defendants nationwide, including 37 in South Florida, who were recently arrested as part of the government's annual take-down initiative. Overall, Justice Department officials said 96 doctors, nurses and pharmacists were among those arrested across all 50 states. Authorities said the defendants submitted more than $14.6 billion in falsified bills to the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs as well as to private insurers, describing the magnitude of fraud as the 'largest' in U.S. history — more than double the prior record of $6 billion. The alleged schemes, fueled by stolen identities, financial kickbacks and fabricated bills, continue to plague the medical equipment, genetic testing and painkiller sectors, among others. READ MORE: Kendall companies and doctors pay $810,000 to settle Medicare fraud charges In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the array of defendants as 'criminal actors who prey upon our most vulnerable citizens and steal from hardworking American taxpayers.' Agents with the FBI and Health and Human Services seized more than $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency and other assets nationwide, authorities said during a news conference in Washington on Monday. But while that number may seem huge, it pales next to the government's losses to healthcare fraud every year, according to experts. South Florida, often described as the capital of fraud, continues to be among the hardest-hit regions in the country. For all of its resources committed to fighting the schemes, including data analytics, the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs for the elderly and indigent continue to lose untold sums to fraud, waste and abuse because they routinely pay bills quickly — leaving law enforcement to chase after offenders who cheat the system after payments land in their pockets. Authorities say the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reduced the rate of 'improper payments' — a combination of 'fraud, waste and abuse' — to 7.46% for the 2022 fiscal year compared with 9.51% in fiscal year 2017, the latest comparisons available. But the federal agency has never publicly disclosed the total amount of improper payments that should not have been made or were made in the wrong amount. Experts estimate that CMS, with an annual budget of $850 billion funded with payroll taxes, loses tens of billions yearly as a result of improper payments. Here are a few South Florida cases filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami during the national take-down: ▪ Dave Sudarshan Singh, 37, of Pembroke Pines, was charged on Thursday with conspiracy to commit healthcare and money laundering for submitting false claims to Medicare for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests — tests that beneficiaries, including some who were deceased, had not requested. An indictment accused Singh and others of using his business, MDP Products and Services, Inc., to file over $14.1 million in bogus claims to Medicare between 2022 and 2023. Medicare, in turn, paid Singh's business about $13 million for the over-the-counter tests, which did not qualify for reimbursements, prosecutors said. His arraignment is pending. ▪ Lazaro Delgado, 59, of Miami, was charged last week with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, alleging he and others submitted false Medicare and Medicaid bills for orthotic braces on behalf of unsuspecting beneficiaries. Prosecutors said Delgado acted as an intermediary to place a nominal owner as the head of Hucel Custom Med Inc., while other co-conspirators coordinated the phony claims for durable medical equipment products that the beneficiaries did not need. In 2022, Hucel fraudulently billed Medicare/Medicaid for about $9 million worth of orthotic braces and received government reimbursements of $1.8 million. His arraignment is pending. ▪ Marlen Veliz Rios, 58, of Hialeah, owner of Loves Community Health Mental Health Inc., was charged last week with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. An indictment accused Veliz Rios of scheming with others to bill more than $15.3 million worth of wound care and skin graft products on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries who never did not need them or receive them. As a result, Medicare paid her company about $10 million. Further, the indictment accused Veliz Rios of transferring the money from Loves' bank account to shell companies under her control and then to others in the alleged laundering scheme. As part of the probe, federal agents have seized $4.6 million from her various accounts, prosecutors said. Her arraignment is pending.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
FBI, DHS warn of lone wolf attacks on July 4 in NYC and San Francisco
NEW YORK — The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have said lone wolf attacks pose the biggest threats to July 4 celebrations this year in New York City and San Francisco. Intelligence bulletins sent out ahead of the holiday warn of copycat attacks and homegrown extremists, according to ABC News. 'We are concerned about the potential threat of copycat attacks inspired by the 2025 New Year's Day vehicle-ramming attack in New Orleans and continued messaging (from foreign terrorist organizations, or FTOs) calling for attacks against Western targets,' two such bulletins read. Officials warn that attackers in New York City and San Francisco could be motivated by a broad-range of grievances, with particular concern over outrage tied to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. 'Of these actors, U.S.-based violent extremists supporting FTOs and (domestic violent extremists) not linked to FTOs represent two of the most persistent threats,' the bulletins say. 'Lone offenders, in particular, remain a concern due to their ability to often avoid detection until operational and to inflict significant casualties.' The agencies specifically cite worries of 'malicious actors and violent extremists' entering July 4 event areas and First Amendment-protected demonstrations with 'weapons, chemical irritants, bodily fluids or other hazardous materials.' Drones could also pose a threat, authorities say. The warning comes weeks after an Egyptian man in Boulder, Colorado used Molotov cocktails to attack a march in support of Israeli hostages, leading to at least one death. A lone shooter killed seven and wounded dozens of others during a 2022 Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, while the New Year's Day attack in New Orleans claimed the lives of 14 victims. _____
