Officials take over 50 migrants into custody in Florida Keys as state resources begin offering assistance

MONROE COUNTY, Fla. – Several dozen migrants were taken into custody on Sunday in the Florida Keys after arriving on homemade boats.

According to the U.S Border Patrol, agents responded to two migrant landings and encountered a total of 53 migrants.

Four of the migrants were taken to a local hospital to be treated for dehydration, officials said.

At the scene in Marathon where about 25 men came ashore, there was a Florida Highway Patrol trooper working the incident.

This comes after the governor signed an executive order to activate the National Guard and add more state resources to the Florida Keys.

Some of those resources are now there, with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and FHP setting up a command post.

Local 10 News was there when more than 330 migrants were put on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. They were elated and waving after being stranded in the Dry Tortugas New Year’s weekend.

The Marathon Border Patrol station was overflowing with other groups during the week.

The surge in migration among people from Haiti and Cuba over the last year has hit a tipping point this last week, with landings and interdictions becoming a daily occurrence.


About the Author

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.

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