More than 2 dozen detained after 2 migrant landings in Keys
KEY WEST, Fla. – Officials detained more than two dozen Cuban migrants in two separate landings in the Florida Keys Wednesday morning.
Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar, who heads the U.S. Border Patrol’s Miami sector, tweeted an image of a waterlogged makeshift rowboat that he said carried 23 men and two women from the island’s Artemisa region.
A source tells Local 10 News that this group of migrants landed near Smathers Beach in Key West.
#Now: 25 migrants were taken into #BorderPatrol custody after arriving on a rustic vessel in #KeyWest #Florida. All 25 individuals were identified as Cuban nationals from the Artemisa region. There were 23 adult males & 2 adult females in the group. No injuries reported on scene. pic.twitter.com/HNUW9KKFEb
— Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar (@USBPChiefMIP) August 3, 2022
Slosar said the migrants weren’t injured and were taken into custody by his agency.
In a separate landing, a “small group” of migrants landed in Tavernier Wednesday morning.
It’s not clear exactly how many migrants were in that group.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, crews have intercepted more than 3,700 Cuban migrants since Oct. 1, 2021, as federal officials deal with a massive increase in migration from the island.
On Tuesday, the Coast Guard sent 58 migrants back to Cuba following multiple interdictions at sea and Sunday morning, officials took 21 Cubans into custody in two separate landings in the Keys.
