CBP apprehends three illegal aliens in Marathon enforcement action

Three illegal aliens were apprehended during an enforcement action in Marathon, adding another visible Border Patrol case to the Middle Keys enforcement footprint. The arrest took place in a community where U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintains a permanent station and where federal agents regularly move through Monroe County in support of public-safety and immigration enforcement.

Marathon matters because it is not just another stop on the map. The Marathon Border Patrol Station’s area of operations covers all of Monroe County, a 997-square-mile stretch that includes every island in the Florida Keys and portions of the Florida Everglades. In practical terms, that gives Border Patrol a countywide mission in one of the most geographically constrained parts of Florida, where law-enforcement response often depends on coordination between federal, county and municipal agencies.

CBP has said similar Florida Keys operations are meant to make the area safer by removing dangerous criminals from local communities. On March 21, 2025, Border Patrol agents from the Marathon station, with support from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Key West Police Department and the Florida Department of Corrections, arrested seven illegal aliens that CBP said had extensive criminal records. In another Florida Keys operation over the prior three weeks, Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, working with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, arrested 10 illegal aliens whom CBP described as previously convicted sex offenders.

The Marathon enforcement action fits that same pattern of concentrated work in the island chain, where a relatively small number of arrests can still carry outsized significance for deputies, businesses and residents trying to gauge how often federal officers are active in town. CBP also says Border Patrol was officially established on May 28, 1924, and it continues to frame its mission around securing the border between ports of entry, gathering intelligence and working with other agencies.

The Miami Sector Border Patrol structure reinforces that local reach. CBP says the sector includes stations in Dania Beach, Jacksonville, Marathon, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach, with Marathon serving as the Keys’ primary enforcement hub. CBP also publishes nationwide enforcement statistics and tracks Title 8 enforcement actions, the immigration arrests and inadmissibility cases processed under its authority, a reminder that even a small stop in Marathon is counted as part of a much larger federal enforcement system.