The Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for 330,000 Haitian immigrants in July has jolted Key West's tourism-dependent economy. Haitian hotel housekeepers, restaurant cooks, and Uber drivers — estimated at 5,000 in a city of 25,000 — are disappearing. Some have been detained by Border Patrol agents; others avoid public spaces and bicycles, fearing enforcement on the mile-wide island linked to Miami by a single 100-mile highway. "There's no outrunning anybody here," said Lucy Hawk, co-founder of the Key West Immigrant Support Network.

Local businesses report severe labor shortages. Bill Lay, a Republican restaurateur, said employees with valid work permits keep getting detained, warning "this will devastate the local economy." Mayor Sam Kaufman noted Hispanic restaurant owners have lost line cooks and delivery drivers, some with valid permits, forcing owners to deliver food themselves. At Jose's Latin Food, Clementina and José Amador now open six days weekly; Mr. Amador cooks alone after kitchen workers fled.

Key West's remote geography prevents busing in replacement workers. "The price of labor is going to shoot up," Kaufman said. Immigration lawyer Wayne Dapser confirmed the scale. The crisis highlights tensions in the Republican-leaning Keys, where Key West's Democratic mayor and liberal population contrast with broader enforcement policies.