Several Haitian migrants found at exclusive Florida Keys gated community, feds say

David Goodhue
·1 min read
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A day after almost 120 people from Haiti arrived in Key West on a migrant sailboat, a small group of Haitians landed on the shores of a gated community about 120 miles away at the opposite end of the Florida Keys, according to local police and federal agents.

Thursday night, around 8:15 p.m., the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office responded to calls of three men walking within the Ocean Reef Club, an exclusive neighborhood and resort located at the northern portion of Key Largo, the agency confirmed to the Herald.

The men told deputies they arrived on a boat from Haiti, said Adam Linhardt, a sheriff’s office spokesman.

As is policy, once the situation is confirmed to be a migrant landing, the sheriff’s office waits for U.S. Border Patrol agents to arrive, then turns the case over to them.

Although three men were found, there may have been more people in the group.

Nestor Yglesias, spokesman for U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, said agents believe the migrants were smuggled by boat. Agents are studying security camera footage from Ocean Reef to see if they can determine the total number of people who arrived.

A sailboat that brought about 120 Haitian migrants to Key West, Fla., on Wednesday morning, June 26, 2024, sits near Higgs Beach.
A sailboat that brought about 120 Haitian migrants to Key West, Fla., on Wednesday morning, June 26, 2024, sits near Higgs Beach.

Early morning the day before — around 3:40 a.m. — an overloaded sailboat with 117 people from Haiti arrived in the shallow waters off Higgs Beach in Key West.

The people on board told authorities they left Haiti seven days before arriving in Key West. It was the largest arrival of Haitian migrants to the Keys since February 2023.

Haitian migrants prepare to depart the U.S. Customs and Border Protection station in the Middle Florida Keys city of Marathon Wednesday, June 26, 2024. They were among a group of almost 120 people who arrived earlier in the morning on a migrant boat in Key West.
Haitian migrants prepare to depart the U.S. Customs and Border Protection station in the Middle Florida Keys city of Marathon Wednesday, June 26, 2024. They were among a group of almost 120 people who arrived earlier in the morning on a migrant boat in Key West.

Border Patrol agents took the arrivals from the sailboat to a migrant processing station in Dania Beach, said Adam Hoffner, assistant chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s Miami sector.