Dry Tortugas National Park temporarily closed

The Dry Tortugas National Park located about 70 miles off of Key West, Florida has been closed by the National Park Service (NPS) for an indeterminate period of time. The NPS advisory, provided below, advises that the closure is temporary.

The Washington Post reports that the NPS estimates approximately 300 people had landed at the park over the New Year’s holiday weekend. The U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson said that the USCG was working to move the migrants from the national park to the regional U.S. Border Patrol in the Keys. The commander of the USCG Seventh District explained the migrants were receiving food, water and basic first aid prior to transfer to the US Border Patrol was “to determine their legal status to remain in the United States or be processed for removal and repatriation to their country of origin.”

A bit about Dry Tortugas National Park

For those unfamiliar with Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas National Park, this six-minute primer via Travel with History is a good starting point to learn a bit of the history of the national park and its original purpose.