Key West,Florida – A surge in immigration enforcement along teh Overseas Highway is raising concerns amongst residents and advocates,transforming the popular tourist destination into a focal point in a broader state crackdown. The increased presence of authorities, with reports of near-daily checkpoints and over 300 detentions since June, is sparking fears within the island chain’s diverse community and prompting accusations of racial profiling. The situation is notably fraught given Key West’s history of independence and reliance on immigrant labor in its tourism and fishing industries.
Key West, Florida – The sole highway connecting the Florida Keys to the mainland U.S. has become a focal point in a large-scale immigration enforcement effort, raising concerns among residents and activists. Authorities have significantly increased checkpoints and traffic stops along the Overseas Highway (A1A), a 128-mile route that draws approximately three million travelers annually, leading to a surge in detentions.
The increased scrutiny comes as part of a broader anti-immigration push by the government, and is causing alarm in the island chain, particularly in Key West, where a growing number of arrests have sparked fear within the migrant community. The situation is particularly sensitive given the Keys’ unique history and reliance on a diverse workforce.
Key West, a city of just 13 square miles, welcomes over a million tourists each year, drawn to its laid-back atmosphere that inspired writers like Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and celebrated in song by Jimmy Buffett as a mix of fishermen, free spirits, and entrepreneurs. The city famously declared its independence from the U.S. in 1982 as a protest against increased Border Patrol scrutiny, a testament to its independent spirit.
Now, with only one main road in and out, the popular tourist destination has become, in practice, a trap for migrants, according to local advocates. In recent weeks, authorities have been conducting near-daily checkpoints, raids, and arrests during routine traffic stops. Activists with the Key West Immigrant Support Network (KWISN) have documented over 300 arrests since June, the majority occurring during traffic stops.
“The majority of the 300 people detained since June have been men who are the primary providers for their families,” said Heather Slivko-Bathurst, founder of KWISN. The network is providing affected families with food, supplies, and legal support.
Residents of Stock Island, a neighborhood where many Key West service workers live, are reportedly avoiding leaving their homes for fear of being stopped, Slivko-Bathurst added. Authorities have recently begun detaining individuals while biking across the small bridge connecting the island to Key West. “Many people were biking from Stock Island to Key West for work. Now, even that is frightening,” she said.
The situation escalated earlier this month with the arrest and subsequent deportation to Honduras of Elvis García, a senior at Key West High School, according to local reports. García had recently turned 18, had graduated from the local Fire Academy, and was a promising member of the school’s wrestling team.
“He wanted to be a firefighter or join the military,” said Chazz Jiménez, García’s wrestling coach. “The whole team loves him. There isn’t anyone who doesn’t.” Jiménez, a lifelong Key West resident, said the scale of the recent enforcement operations is unprecedented. “We’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve known of people deported in the past, even parents, but never a student. What we’re seeing now is the separation of entire families, with children living in fear.”
A mother of a high school student, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told reporters that García’s arrest has sent shockwaves through the community. “It’s humiliating. The kids are devastated. This is out of control. Right now it’s racial profiling. We’re not talking about criminals. This is devastating.” The woman has lived in Key West for over a decade.
KWISN recorded more than 10 detentions on the day García was arrested, according to Dan Mathers, a member of the network and owner of a Key West coffee shop. Mathers and other volunteers monitor the operations and record officers in unmarked vehicles making arrests. When local police initiate a traffic stop, the volunteers time the encounter “to determine if it’s being intentionally prolonged to allow time for the Border Patrol to arrive,” Mathers explained. “We have indications that detentions last longer when the person speaks with a Spanish accent.”
Mathers was arrested in August while recording an operation, spending hours at the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office in Marathon before being released without charges. He described the facility as cold and austere, with “nine or ten people behind a glass panel, on a concrete floor. They had minimal padding, like a garden chair cushion, and a foil blanket.”
Volunteers are posting warning signs and helpful information for migrants in apartment complexes and mobile home parks, and alerting people through social media about the presence of agents on the streets. “Migra is patrolling Stock Island. Be careful,” reads a Facebook post from the group that has been shared dozens of times. “Avoid traveling, stay where you are, do not drive,” says another.
Mathers points out that the Overseas Highway, the only access road to Key West, “is an easy trap. We see Border Patrol vehicles stationed on the A1A, running plates and waiting for someone to detain.”
Earlier in December, a U.S. citizen was detained on the A1A near Largo while driving to work. A reporter for the Miami Herald recorded a video of the contentious encounter, showing officers forcibly removing the woman from her car as she shouted that she was a U.S. citizen. The car was reportedly registered to the woman’s partner, who is in the country without legal authorization, according to the Herald. The woman, a hospital therapist in uniform, stated that she followed all of the officers’ instructions and, before she could reach for her license, they threatened to break the window and pull her out of the car. Authorities released her after verifying her status.
Key West signed an agreement in July, known as 287(g), to collaborate with immigration authorities. Commissioners had voted against the agreement in late June, but reversed their decision after receiving a threatening letter from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, warning that they could be violating Florida law prohibiting sanctuary cities.
“It was a pretty intimidating letter” that even threatened the commissioners with their positions, said District 1 Key West Commissioner Monica Haskell. Haskell added that she has received complaints that police are detaining people of color during traffic stops. “These are simple stops that, in theory, should be resolved quickly, but they are holding people of color for 30 minutes or more, until immigration authorities arrive, until the Border Patrol or Customs and Border Protection shows up,” she said.
The Key West Police Department said in an email that it “has not made any arrests for immigration reasons” and referred questions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), which encompasses the Keys, has reported approximately 10 arrests on “federal immigration charges” since August. The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) has reported 42, according to official figures. Authorities have also been boarding vessels, including fishing boats, arresting people at sea.
According to Slivko-Bathurst, trust in local authorities has plummeted. “There’s a huge part of the community that no longer trusts the police, because they see them as enforcers of policies that we reject.” For migrant families, “the most disturbing thing is the sense of institutional betrayal,” she added. “They tell you to apply, they give you a work permit, a social security card, a driver’s license, and now all that information is being used against you.”
