MIAMI — For the third time in as many months, a group of Haitian migrants has come ashore in the Florida Keys.
The latest group of over 100 individuals arrived late Sunday night, and arrived near the shores of the exclusive gated community of Ocean Reef in north Key Largo shortly after 11 p.m. This is almost the exact same spot as two other boats from Haiti carrying large numbers of people arrived.
The latest group is the largest group of Haitians to make their way through the Florida Straits since boats began arriving again in November after a two year hiatus.
Authorities were slow to release details of the arrival, but at least six people in the group have been taken to the hospital, according to the Key Largo Fire Department.
Key Largo Fire Capt. David Garrido said his people transported three of the migrants to the Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, and Ocean Reef medics transported another three people.
“They were all taken to Mariners and treated for fatigue,” Garrido said.
Miami Dade Fire Rescue said 11 of its units responded to a situation near Ocean Reef, possibly in reference to reports over 100 people on board a boat, with around 20 people needing medical evaluation and attention.
“Everyone was removed from the vessel. There were four patients total. Two adult patients and two pediatric patients were transported by ground to a local-area hospital,” Miami Dade Fire rescue said in a release.
On Nov. 18, 2021, 63 Haitian migrants arrived aboard a rickety wooden sailboat in the Upper Florida Keys after reportedly spending three weeks at sea, according to what some migrants told U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Then on Christmas eve, a second group of 52 migrants landed on Card Sound Road in Key Largo.
As of Jan. 6, the U.S. has sent 13,320 Haitians back to Haiti on board 125 Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flights since mid-September, according to the International Organization for Migration, when the Biden administration announced it was ramping up deportations to Haiti after thousands of migrants arrived at the U.S. Southern border and camped out underneath an international bridge in Del Rio, Texas.
