MADRID, Spain.- Since Monday morning, the Dry Tortugas National Park, in Florida, will close temporarily its public access due to the recent arrival of some 300 Cuban migrants. Police and medical personnel assess, provide care, and coordinate the transportation of these individuals to Key West.
“The closure, which is expected to last several days, is necessary for the safety of visitors and workers, due to the resources and space necessary to care for migrants,” he specified this Sunday through a release the National Park Service.
The official note notes that the park, like other parts of the Florida Keys, has recently seen an increase in people they arrive by boat from Cuba and disembark on the islands of the Dry Tortugas National Park.
NEW RELEASE: Dry Tortugas National Park will temporarily close to the public on January 2 at 8 am while law enforcement & medical personnel evaluate, provide care for & coordinate transport to Key West for approximately 300 migrants who arrived in the park in the past couple days pic.twitter.com/5UiJ1vP2Lc
— Dry Tortugas National Park (@DryTortugasNPS) January 1, 2023
Park rescuers provide food, water and basic medical care to these people until the Department of Homeland Security arrives, which deals with the subsequent procedure.
According to the statement, while the park is closed, vessels can seek safe harbor in designated areas within the one nautical mile anchorage zone around Garden Key, including Bird Key Harbor.
Since October 1, 2022, the beginning of the fiscal year, to date, United States Coast Guard crews have intercepted almost 4,000 Cubans.
Recently, the United States Embassy in Havana alerted Cuban migrants that it would reinforce surveillance in the Straits of Florida, with a view to confronting the increase in irregular maritime migration. Just as he declared that the migration crisis has become a National Security concern.
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