Florida Sees Over 500 Migrants Arrive Closing a Local Destination

Photo byTwitter

A lot of news is on Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas migrants that he busses to sanctuary cities. But news about migrants is overshadowed in another state where recently 500 migrants arrived by sea. 88 are from Cuba.

About 500 Cuban migrants arrived in Florida recently. Most migrants and refugees arrived in Key West which is about 150 miles from Cuba.

It was reported over 227,000 Cubans tried to enter the United States illegally from December 2021 to December 2022.

One destination in Florida, the Dry Tortugas National Park, closed for several days to provide medical attention and support to Cuban refugees according to the New York Times.

The park tweeted:

"The closure, which is expected to last several days, is necessary for the safety of visitors and staff because of the resources and space needed to attend to the migrants."

Photo byTwitter

From October 2021 to September 2022, the US Customs and Border Protection reported 224,607 encounters with Cuban migrants and refugees. This was a 471 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

Sheriff Rick Ramsey said:

“This shows a lack of a working plan by the federal government to deal with a mass migration issue that was foreseeable.”

The arrival of Cuban migrants is not new. The arrival of migrants has been going on for years and now with the end of Title 42 on hold, this only increases the number of migrants arriving. And, Cuba is having its own economic issues and shortage of basic goods.

Chief patrol agent of the Miami Sector Walter Slosar said:

“We’ve seen this before. It’s a natural phenomenon. However, seeing the uptick for us is really concerning and the fact that we’re seeing more individuals on not-so-seaworthy vessels, putting a significant amount of those individuals at very dangerous risk for loss of life.”

Governor Ron DeSantis is not a fan of illegal immigrants arriving in his state. He urged his legislators to put aside $12 million to transport migrants out of Florida.

DeSantis also made news when he flew Texas migrants to Martha’s Vineyard on September 14. The governor was sued over his action.

Do you think the United States needs to update its immigration law?