Florida Highway Patrol Captures 20 Illegal Immigrants Trying to Enter Keys by Boat

The Southernmost Point marker in Key West is a must-see for tourists. (Gwen Filosa/Florida Keys News/Miami Herald/TNS)

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) captured and detained 20 illegal immigrants—including 17 Chinese nationals and three from Ecuador—who landed in Key Largo by boat on Oct. 22.

FHP worked with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to secure a perimeter ahead of the bust at Mile Marker 109 in Monroe County.

The China nationals consisted of 11 adult males and six adult females. The three from Ecuador were all adult males.

“While the Biden Administration has completely failed at border security, our Florida Highway Patrol troopers stand ready to protect the U.S. border, whether in the southwestern United States or here off the coast of Florida,” FHP Executive Director Dave Kerner said in a statement. “This detention of Chinese nationals shows how an open border allows individuals from enemy nations to enter our communities.”

No details on the boat’s origin or where it disembarked from were available at this time. A representative from Border Patrol said the Miami Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is investigating the case. A representative from ICE ERO Miami did not respond to an Epoch Times’ request for comment.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Executive Order 23-03 on Jan. 6 to activate the Florida National Guard (FLNG) and state law enforcement agencies to respond to a growing influx of illegal immigrants landing in the Florida Keys.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a border meeting, while Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez (L) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) look on, in Del Rio, Texas, on July 18, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

“As the negative impacts of [President Joe] Biden’s lawless immigration policies continue unabated, the burden of the Biden administration’s failure falls on local law enforcement who lack the resources to deal with the crisis,” Mr. DeSantis said in a news release. “That is why I am activating the National Guard and directing state resources to help alleviate the strain on local resources. When Biden continues to ignore his legal responsibilities, we will step in to support our communities.”

The Florida Keys are located in Monroe County, which has only 194 deputies to respond to illegal border crossings while simultaneously “ensuring adequate public safety,” according to the governor’s office.

Executive Order 23-03 utilizes airplanes and helicopters from the FLNG while assisting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) marine patrol. This is to “support water interdictions and ensure the safety of migrants attempting to reach Florida through the Florida Straits.”

The governor’s office indicated that the country has a “long history of helping refugees, including Cubans and others fleeing communist regimes,” start a new life in the United States. However, this effort always involved considerable support and collaboration from the federal government.

Roughly 300 illegal immigrants entered Dry Tortugas National Park—70 miles west of Key West—on Jan. 1, according to the governor’s office. Another group of 45 entered illegally in Key West. The stream of migrants forced officials to close the park to “ensure the safety of visitors and staff and to provide the space necessary to attend to the illegal immigrants.”

Since August 2022, “federal, state, and local law enforcement have encountered more than 8,000 migrants in waters off the coast of Florida.”

Mr. DeSantis announced on May 25 that Florida was ready and willing to assist Texas with its crisis at the southern border. Texas requested assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) for “responding to the substantial public safety and national security threat posed by the federal government’s failure to secure the international border with Mexico,” according to the Florida governor’s office.

Florida supported Texas during Operation Lone Star from June 26, 2021, to Aug. 14, 2021. Through this effort, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), FHP, and FWC reported 9,171 undocumented migrant contacts, with 7,891 adults and 1,190 children, and 311 criminal arrests, including 79 human smuggling attempts, 16 stolen vehicles, and 43 narcotics busts in Del Rio and Eagle Pass.

A map showing the south Texas counties that have joined the Operation Lone Star trespass prosecution of illegal immigrants on state and private land. (The Epoch Times)

Additionally, Operation Vigilant Sentry, first conducted in 2004, continues at the southern border.

“It is the arm of the task force that deploys joint air and surface assets and personnel to address illegal maritime migration in the Caribbean corridor of the United States,” according to the United States Coast Guard (USCG). “The primary objective: to protect the safety of life at sea and to deter and dissuade a maritime mass migration with our federal, state, and local partners.”

Florida’s departments also play a special role in this effort. FLNG is helping the Texas Military Department and Texas National Guard with 436 on-site personnel trained in the use of force and narcotic overdose medication.

FDLE deployed agents and eight support team members along the Texas border. They contributed to 32 arrests, including multiple gang members. “Suspects were arrested on various Texas state charges including human smuggling, firearms, smuggling of persons, and possession of controlled substance,” according to Mr. DeSantis’s office. The arrests resulted in seizing drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana.

There are 101 FHP Troopers working in Texas to secure the southern border. Two fixed-wing aircraft, five unmanned aerial vehicle drones, and two mobile command vehicles were also deployed.

FWC contributed 20 sworn officers and two mechanics to bolster federal, state, and local agencies with controlling the border.

Illegal immigrants cross the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sept. 30, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The Coast Guard said 2022 was a particularly deadly year for illegal immigration, with 65 people dying while trying to cross the border into the United States. The USCG noted 17 deaths in 2020 and five in 2021.

“These individuals are ignoring real risks,” Chief Warrant Officer Matthew James said in a news release. “Just about every vessel we encounter in these voyages was constructed haphazardly with improvised materials and taking on water. The few vessels that appeared to be well-built were dangerously overloaded, and capsizing was imminent when we arrived on the scene. It’s very dangerous to try and cross the Florida Straits this way.”

Captain Benjamin Golightly explained, “The Coast Guard and our partners are working to stop senseless migration-related deaths at sea by rescuing people in rustic, unsafe vessels.

“Help us by not paying smugglers and instead, encourage safe, legal migration,” he said.