Fourteen Cubans aboard a rustic vessel made landing near the shores in the Upper Keys on Thursday morning.
According to Samuel Briggs II, chief patrol agent, U.S. Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement agencies responded to the migrant landing. The Cubans arrived on the wooden vessel near Old Settlers Park. Briggs said the migrants were subsequently taken into federal custody.
Various law enforcement agencies responded to the landing alongside federal agents, including Florida Highway Patrol to Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation. Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a wave of state officers and guardsmen to the Florida Keys in preparation for possibly more maritime voyages among migrants from two Caribbean countries facing unrest and violence.
DeSantis’ deployment of some 133 Florida State Guard members on March 13 was in response to the possible influx of Haitian migrants taking to the southern U.S. waters. Not only did DeSantis deploy more than 130 state guardsmen to the Keys and South Florida, but he also recently ordered 30 Florida Highway Troopers, 23 Florida Fish & Wildlife officers, 39 Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers and 48 Florida National Guard members. A total of 250 officers and soldiers and more than a dozen air and sea craft were deployed to the southern coast of Florida, DeSantis said.
