Federal agents responding to ‘multiple’ migrant landings in Key West, official says

KEY WEST, Fla. – Federal agents responded to “multiple” migrant landings in Key West Monday morning, a top official with the U.S. Border Patrol said.

Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar, who heads the agency’s Miami sector, tweeted that officials took 27 Cuban migrants into custody over the weekend after making landfall in the Florida Keys.

Officials took an additional 33 Cuban migrants into custody Monday morning.

Amid crises in Cuba and Haiti, federal officials report an eye-popping 350% increase in migrants this fiscal year. Local 10 News sat down with the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week to discuss the upsurge.

On Saturday, U.S. Coast Guard crews intercepted a vessel in the Florida Straits that had dozens of apparent Haitian migrants. The agency also returned 90 Cuban migrants to their home country after multiple interdictions at sea.

Those Cuban migrants were among the more than 4,600 intercepted at sea so far this fiscal year.