Taxpayers Spend $30K to Rescue Illegal American Floaters

On Sunday Aug. 21, Michigan's Port Huron Float Down turned excited party-goers into accidental illegal immigrants when the 1,500 attendees floated down the St. Clair River and over the Canadian border near the city of Sarnia. The participants had been riding dinghies, and floating on inner tubes and other devices when rain and strong winds caused them to veer off course towards Ontario. Luckily, the Canadian Coast Guard came to the rescue.

The cost of the rescue

Faced with a massive drowning situation, authorities came quickly to the rescue, pulling Americans out of the water as their flotation devices became deflated. However, this rescue came at a cost. It is estimated that the resources the city of Sarnia exhausted to safely return the passport-less travelers to the US added up to $8,100. 10 Sarnia city buses were utilized to drive the Americans to the Canadian border under police escort. 

The Canadian Coast Guard has reportedly spent an additional $21,700 which includes overtime costs, fuel and provisions for the Coast Guard Ship Limnos, the on-scene command vessel, and fast rescue craft that were used to help the Float Down participants who were in distress. Most of this will be covered by tax-payers.

A GoFundMe page was started by an unaffiliated man to at least reimburse the city of Sarnia for their expenses. He asked that all participants who were rescued donate $5 and as of right now the page has raised $5,272 of its $9,000 goal.

Photo courtesy of Gofundme.com.