Florida islands face ‘crisis’ as nearly 500 asylum seekers arrive

The Florida Keys, a chain of tropical islands that comprise the southernmost point of the contiguous United States, has experienced an influx of migrants and refugees over the weekend, as an estimated 500 asylum seekers arrived by boat to the archipelago’s shores.

The situation amounts to a “humanitarian crisis”, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Monday, which added that US Border Patrol had issued instructions to delay some landings until federal resources arrive.

The wave of arrivals began with a spike on Saturday and was expected to continue into Monday morning, the statement said.

It comes as the US debates the future of its asylum policies, with the Supreme Court set to weigh in on Title 42, an immigration order that has been used approximately 2.5 million times to expel migrants and refugees arriving at the country’s borders.

Republican officials have warned that repealing Title 42 could lead to an increase in asylum seekers that the US is ill-prepared to handle. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s administration has signalled support for lifting the policy, which critics say violates asylum seekers’ right to a fair hearing.

Citing the resources needed to care for the incoming migrants and refugees, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office blamed the situation in the Florida Keys on “federal failure”.

“This shows a lack of a working plan by the federal government to deal with a mass migration issue that was foreseeable,” said local Sheriff Rick Ramsay.

The island city of Key West sits about 150km (95 miles) north of Cuba, making it a popular destination for asylum seekers fleeing the Caribbean nation and other countries across the region.