EFE.- The arrival of some 300 migrants in the last two days at the Dry Tortugas National Park, in the Florida Keys, forced its temporary closure this Sunday while the authorities attend to and rescue the people who are stranded on the islets.
The Coast Guard said it is aware and that the migrants will be moved from the park to Key West, more than 70 miles to the west.
The reserve, a chain of islets in the Gulf of Mexico, will be closed to visitors starting January 2 for several days, the National Park Service reported on Sunday, reporting a recent increase in people arriving by boat from Cuba to the park and other sites in the Florida Keys.
Concession-operated ferry and seaplane services have also been temporarily suspended, it said.
The closure is necessary for the safety of visitors and for the authorities to have the space and facilities to care for migrants, he reported.
["I do not regret anything": the story of a Cuban woman who woke up from a coma in Miami after a fatal rafting trip]
The Coast Guard and other federal, state and local agencies are coordinating efforts to rescue people currently stranded on the remote and uninhabited islands, said Rear Admiral Brendan C. McPherson, commander of the Coast Guard's Seventh District.
McPherson said they will be provided with food, water and first aid before being transferred to immigration officials in the Florida Keys.
"They were raking weapons every so often": Migrant kidnapped in Mexico recounts his experiences
Dec 13, 202201:55
They will then be processed by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office to determine their legal status, whether they remain in the United States or they will be processed for removal and repatriation, explained McPherson, who warned that "irregular maritime migration is always dangerous and often deadly.
So far in fiscal year 2023, that is, since last October 1 to date, the Coast Guard has intercepted 3,839 Cubans at sea.
In the entire fiscal year 2021, 838 were detained and 6,182 in 2022.
According to official figures, in fiscal year 2020 there were only 49 Cuban migrants intercepted, and in 2018 the number reached 259, while in 2017 and 2016 there were 1,468 and 5,396, respectively.
