By Andrew West,
With the White House consistently refusing to make progress on the issue of illegal immigration, migrant caravans numbering in the tens of thousands continue to form south of the border, with Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico on their minds.
And while the humanitarian crisis caused by this federal inaction is easy to observe in cities such as El Paso, the trouble with unfettered immigration is spreading far and wide in the USA. This includes the recent closure of a small National Park off the coast.
A remote national park in the Gulf of Mexico closed on Monday after about 300 migrants landed there over the holiday weekend, officials said
Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles west of Key West, temporarily closed Monday morning “while law enforcement & medical personnel evaluate, provide care for & coordinate transport to Key West” for the migrants, the park said in a tweet.
“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,” park officials said in their statement, adding that concession-operated ferry and seaplane services were also temporarily suspended.
The landing required a rather significant effort from local law enforcement.
Walter Slosar, chief patrol agent for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Miami Sector, said in a tweet Saturday afternoon that at least 88 of the migrants who had arrived at that point were from Cuba. More than 220,000 Cubans have come through the U.S.-Mexico border in the last fiscal year, with many fleeing flooding and medicine and power shortages, as well as a crackdown on anti-government protests.
By Sunday afternoon, more than 160 migrants had arrived in 10 landings since midnight, Slosar tweeted.
“Like elsewhere in the Florida Keys, the park has recently seen an increase in people arriving by boat from Cuba and landing on the islands of Dry Tortugas National Park,” the park’s statement continued. “Park first responders provide food, water and basic medical attention until the Department of Homeland Security arrives and takes the lead.”
The Biden administration’s hands-off approach to immigration isn’t merely a literal problem either, as the lackadaisical attitude also provides a great deal of incentive for migrants who often see less opportunity to illegally enter the United States during Republican administrations.
Cross-posted with Flag and Cross
