Florida national park closed after migrant arrivals
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(NewsNation) — The National Parks Service has closed a national park in Florida after an influx of migrants arrived there.
About 300 migrants arrived in the Dry Tortugas, a remote park, located roughly 70 miles from Key West, over the weekend. The park is mainly open water with a few small islands and is only accessible by boat or seaplane.
The park is also located about 100 miles from Havana, Cuba. The U.S. has seen an increase in Cuban migrants over the past year, many of them making the journey by boat.
The New York Times reports officials have not specified the nationalities of the migrants, while the Miami Herald has reported the migrants are Cuban.
Dry Tortugas has been closed to the public while the NPS provides the migrants with food, water and medical care while they wait for authorities to transport them to Key West.
U.S. Border Patrol’s Chief Patrol Agent for the Miami Sector issued a statement on the surge of migrants.
“U.S. Border Patrol agents along with our partner agencies are on scene in Key Largo, Florida, where a sailing vessel involving a large number of migrants made landfall,” Miami Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said.
Chief Slosar added that since October 2022, the Miami Sector has experience more than a 400% increase in migrant encounters.
