100+ Haitian migrants make landfall near Tavernier Key
MIAMI - More than one hundred migrants landed early Thursday morning in the Florida Keys.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol posted on Twitter that they were in a boat that docked near Tavernier Key.
Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar posted on Twitter a video of their vessel.
The 114 migrants, mostly men with a few women and children, were from Haiti, according to Border Patrol.
They were taken to a local Border Patrol station where they will be medically screened and processed.
Since October 1st, the US Coast Guard said it has interdicted more than 8,300 migrants at sea. Including nearly 5,600 from Cuba - that's almost as many as the 6,100 interdicted in the prior 12 months
Border Patrol said these types of voyages are dangerous and are not recommended.
Last month, the Biden administration launched a new program for legal access to the United States from several countries.
The program allows up to 30 thousand migrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Cuba a month to come to the US to live and work. To qualify, migrants have to have a sponsor in the US and undergo screening and vetting.
They will have to pay for their flights to the country and will be eligible to work once they are approved.
Haitian and Cuban migrants who arrive by boat will not be eligible to apply for the parole process.
Florida, along with more than a dozen other states, have sued the Department of Homeland Security, calling the new program a violation of federal immigration law and an overreach of executive power.
