Miami-More than 300 Cuban and Haitian immigrants recently log in In Dry Tortugas National Park, a remote protected archipelago just over 60 miles from Key West, Florida. Over the New Year’s Day weekend, the National Park Service personnel on site were overwhelmed and the park was closed.Another 606 migrants were stop At sea, he was taken to a national park by federal law enforcement officials and repatriated by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast statement All migrants were removed from the park on Jan. 4 and sent to a facility in Key West for further processing.Dry Tortugas National Park reopens Sunday to the public.
The reopening marks the end of one of the most high-profile episodes in the ongoing immigration crisis, as authorities in Florida and on the U.S.-Mexico border grapple with an unprecedented flow of migrants from Cuba.More Cubans have Arrived In the U.S last year than the Mariel incident of 1980 and the Balsero crisis of 1994, as a communist state struggle With a recession and growing political discontent with its ruling class.
Cuban migrant crossing hits record high: more than 220,000 Cubans tried illegally crossed the southern border from December 2021 to December 2022, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Migrants also travel to the United States by sea.Since October, the Coast Guard has to intercept 3,700 Cubans at sea, more than half to intercept in the past 11 months.
Cubans on the island have been unable to apply for asylum or exit visas at the U.S. embassy in Havana for more than six years after the Trump administration shut down the embassy’s visa operations. This forced Cubans to go to Guyana, one of the few countries Cubans are allowed to visit, to apply for asylum, expensive A process inaccessible to many on the island.If Cubans arrive on U.S. soil, they will no longer be automatically allowed to stay and seek residency, as they were before the Obama administration Finish The 2017 “wet feet, dry feet” policy.So the suspension of visa services in Havana is driving many people to risk Voyages across the Straits of Florida or across Central America to the southern border were often made with the help of smugglers.
More and more Haitians are also get away Their country, trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border amid ongoing gang violence, disease outbreaks and political instability deterioration the last few months.limited opportunities ask Beyond borders and new asylums limit Haitian immigration problems in countries such as Brazil and Chile have prompted many to take risks as well.
Those arrivals have contributed to a wider border crisis.US border authorities Report Encountered more than 2 million immigrants in FY2022.many immigrants came expect The end of Title 42, a pandemic-era measure implemented by the Trump administration that gave the federal government broad powers to deport immigrants as soon as they enter the country.
Officials in Florida have criticized the federal government’s slow response to the arrivals, with teams from the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies often not responding until the day after the large arrivals. “This demonstrates the lack of a federal government job plan to deal with foreseeable mass immigration,” said Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay, who oversees law enforcement operations in the Islands. Say in the press release.
Cuban-American lawmakers in Florida have blamed President Joe Biden for the immigration crisis, attributing the recent surge to what they see as a weak approach to relations with Havana and the administration’s failure to strengthen border security.
“The Biden administration’s pathetic policy of appeasement and concessions to the brutal Castro regime, combined with the president’s reluctance to protect our borders, has created an immigration crisis that directly affects the Florida Keys,” said Rep. Carlos Jimenez (D- R-Fla.), which includes the Dry Tortugas and Keys, Say in the press release.florida state legislator Worry Without greater support and action from the federal government, the state will find itself unable to keep its maritime borders secure or keep up with the continued influx of people into the Florida Keys.
In response to the recent increase in immigration, Biden Announce Last week, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans would no longer be immune from deportation under Article 42. Up to 30,000 unauthorized immigrants from these countries will be deported. sent back Monthly trips to Mexico after the policy went into effect. Asylum applications at the southern border will also be restricted.
Administration also Announce The new asylum pathway, which allows Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan immigrants to apply for asylum if they commit to working for two years and have a U.S. sponsor who can support them during that time, claims it will provide “orderly immigration” for immigrants seeking to come to the United States.State Council has reopen Havana’s visa services help facilitate this new asylum process.
The White House acknowledged that the policies had limited impact on the larger crisis.Government officials publicly stated tip Blaming Congress for failing to pass immigration reform over the past few years, he called on Congress to take greater action in the coming months.
Still, lawmakers from both parties condemned the administration’s move.Democrats especially have berate The White House has taken some of the same policy approaches that they have criticized the Trump administration for using.
Regardless of the changes and dangers that accompany the perilous journey, many immigrants remain undeterred in their mission to arrive in the United States.
“I’d rather die to fulfill my dream and help my family,” said Jeiler del Toro Diaz, a Cuban immigrant ashore on Key Largo on Tuesday. Tell miami herald. “The situation in Cuba is not very good.”
25 immigrants, mostly Haitians, landing On Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida’s immigration crisis showed no signs of ending.
