Almost 300 Cuban refugees landed at the Dry Tortugas National Park over the weekend, forcing the National Park Service to close the park. The small, isolated island west of Key West that serves as a national park will be closed for several days, according to authorities.
Dry Tortugas National Park will close temporarily, beginning Monday morning.
Officials said nearly 300 migrants arrived at the park over the past two days.
Law enforcement and medical personnel will evaluate and transport the migrants to Key West, officials said.
Local 10 News recently had exclusive access to a special team with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as the number of migrant landings on the islands west of Key West has increased.
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“Like elsewhere in the Florida Keys, the park has recently seen an increase in people arriving by boat from Cuba and landing on the islands of Dry Tortugas National Park,” the National Park Service said in a news release. “Park first responders provide food, water and basic medical attention until the Department of Homeland Security arrives and takes the lead.
As we have seen over the 64-year history of the Castro dictatorship, Cubans will do almost anything to escape the oppression and misery of communism, even throwing themselves into the sea.