Federal agents continue to maintain a strong, visible presence in the Upper Florida Keys as more individuals are seen being detained and sent away.
On Friday morning, a Customs and Border Protection helicopter circled the air in the Upper Keys as agents conducted stops along U.S. 1 on several vehicles — and even a bus. The activity began around 6:30 a.m. and concluded around 9 a.m. The agents and their vehicles, some marked and others unmarked, could be seen at the Key Largo Winn Dixie.
Some witnesses say the helicopter was circling around Key Largo School. The activity witnessed Friday comes on the final day of class before Thanksgiving break.
From the ground, local resident Nick Rodriguez videoed a few encounters where agents pulled over vehicles. One motorist who was picked up reportedly didn’t have their driver’s license with them, even though they had legal status.
“They’re stopping working vans, landscaping trucks and construction vehicles,” Rodriguez told Keys Weekly.
It’s been a common scene the past few weeks in Key Largo, where agents have pulled over numerous vehicles during the early morning hours. They’ve even staked out near Key Largo School as kids bike to school and as buses and parents drop off kids. The presence among federal agents has especially been seen by motorists the past few Friday mornings.
One stop by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on a white van on Nov. 7 led to a brief lockdown at KLS after one of the occupants fled.
“There has to be a better way to do this operation rather than to design it specifically to take advantage of the slow down in front of my child’s school every morning,” said one concerned KLS parent.
Then there was a report on Nov. 17 of federal agents stopping a vehicle with a Coral Shores student on his way to school. An adult family member, too, was detained by agents and transported away. School officials confirmed to the Keys Weekly that the 16-year-old Coral Shores student was indeed detained. It’s the first report of a Monroe County student being picked up by federal agents.
According to the sources, the student has been in the Florida Keys for a “long time” and works a local job on top of his academics.
And recent immigration enforcement activity rocked the Upper Keys Marine Construction company after six of their employees were stopped and detained by federal agents this month. Jill Foley, company owner with her husband, Adam, said two of their workers were picked up in early November. She said both are longtime workers, have Social Security cards and pay taxes. They were even screened by the private-gated and highly-secured Ocean Reef community.
The following week, four more of their workers were picked by federal agents. Again, Foley said the employees had either Social Security cards or visas and were vetted by Ocean Reef security.
“We spent that second week trying to figure out what was going on,” Foley said. “Our guys have no criminal background. It didn’t fit the profile of what kind of the people the administration was seeking to target.”
Foley added they’re working with immigration attorneys to assist their workers through the matter, whether it be getting them the right type of visa and getting them released in cases where they’re legal and have the necessary paperwork.
“We’ve now almost lost two full crews of highly-skilled employees who’ve been doing this for a number of years,” Foley said. “The impact is detrimental. It’s slowed the work to a snail’s pace on the job sites.”
— This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
