(ConservativeSense.com) – In a further example of the toll illegal immigration is taking on American life, a national park in Florida has been forced to close following the arrival of hundreds of migrants.
The Dry Tortugas National Park, around 70 miles from Key West, was closed on January 2nd and no date has yet been provided about when it will reopen, but it is expected to be closed for several days. In a news statement, park officials said the closure was to allow law enforcement and medical personnel to provide care for the migrants and to facilitate their transport to Key West.
The migrants had arrived by boat, mostly from Cuba. More than 500 reached the Key West area over the holiday weekend and in excess of 2,000 have landed since October. Monroe County Sherriff Rick Ramsay said, “This shows a lack of a working plan by the federal government to deal with a mass migration issue that was foreseeable.”
At the end of 2022, the US had seen the highest-ever numbers crossing its borders illegally and 2023 has begun in the same fashion. Furthermore, fewer than 30,000 people in total were deported from the nation last year. This is much lower than the 95,000 removed in 2018.
The Department of Homeland Security released the annual Immigration and Customs Enforcement figures over the holidays showing substantial cuts to immigration enforcement. The total number of people deported amounts to less than 0.3% of those living illegally across the country.
The number of convicted criminals expelled last year was around 23,000. This is down from 73,000 in 2018.
There are few signs that the White House intends to solve the crisis. In December, the Supreme Court kept Trump-era legislation Title 42 in place. This allows officials to expel migrants without hearing asylum claims. The Biden administration opposed the Supreme Court ruling but said it would comply.
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