From New Year's weekend to this Monday, nearly 500 immigrants from the Caribbean arrived to the Florida Keys. Local border authorities were forced to temporarily close Dry Tortugas National Park and described the situation as a major "crisis."
These migrants came mainly from Cuba, where the economic situation is forcing one of the largest exoduses in the country's history. The first group of about 300 migrants arrived on New Year's Day at Dry Tortugas National Park, located on one of the Florida Keys' most remote islands.
On Tuesday, Jan. 2, the park administration was forced to temporarily close its facilities to the public. Members of the police were working alongside Dry Tortugas personnel to assist and transport the individuals in question.
NEW RELEASE: Dry Tortugas National Park will temporarily close to the public on January 2 at 8 am while law enforcement & medical personnel evaluate, provide care for & coordinate transport to Key West for approximately 300 migrants who arrived in the park in the past couple days pic.twitter.com/5UiJ1vP2Lc
— Dry Tortugas National Park (@DryTortugasNPS) January 1, 2023
Hours later, a second group of 160 people arrived and a third of 30, both to the Middle Keys on dangerous and precarious boats, often a deadly journey. All received food and first aid before being transferred.
Monroe County Police Chief Rick Ramsay blamed the Biden administration for the border situation and claimed that migrants put pressure on local resources. "This shows the lack of a working plan on the part of the federal government to deal with a massive migration problem that was foreseeable," he stated.
