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Authorities have warned in recent days about the potential crisis caused by the massive arrival of Cuban rafters in the Florida Keys. Monroe County Police Chief Rick Ramsay assured that the situation requires more resources than they have available.
According to Efe, the arrival of more than 364 migrants during the last few days at Dry Tortugas National Park forced its temporary closure in the middle of the vacation season to facilitate the rescue of these people stranded on the islets.
“Refugee arrivals require a lot of resources from the Sheriff’s Office as we help our federal law enforcement partners ensure the migrants are in good health and safe,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay.
The police chief explained that “may see an increased amount of law enforcement and emergency responders throughout the county as we continue to respond to these landings.”
Refugee arrivals in Florida
According to police, more than 160 refugees have landed primarily in the Middle and Upper Keys, as well x about 300 in the Marquesas Keys and at Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas.
Similarly, it was learned that the Border Patrol has told the Sheriff’s Office that some migrant landings may have to wait for federal resources to arrive until the next day, exacerbating the massive migration crisis in the Keys.
“This shows a lack of a working plan by the federal government to deal with a mass migration issue that was foreseeable,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay.
“This federal failure is creating a humanitarian crisis,” the police chief’s office said.
EFE reported that so far this fiscal year 2023 (since last October 1) the Coast Guard has intercepted 3,839 Cubans at sea, a significant increase in detentions compared to the 838 intercepted in the entire fiscal year 2021 and the 6,182 in 2022.
Williams Perdomo es periodista y escritor, especializado en las fuentes Política y Cultura.