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On Tuesday morning, Elvis Garcia, 18, was driving himself and a friend to school from Big Coppitt Key to Key West High, which starts at 7:30 a.m.

Federal agents stopped Elvis, as they’ve been pulling over drivers on US 1 at a rapidly increasing rate, on or near Rockland Key.

“They detained Elvis right there on the spot,” a local familiar with Elvis and his family told me. “The kid he was with is Hispanic as well, but he’s a citizen, so he was cleared.”

Elvis was taken to a Marathon detention center on Tuesday and was to be transported to Miami on Wednesday morning.

For weeks now, Border Patrol has set up roadside staging areas for patrols.

Agents run license plates and pull over anyone who has a current immigration case pending, according to locals with knowledge of specific stops.

On Tuesday, at least 10 people have been stopped and taken into federal custody, according to the all-volunteer Key West Immigrant Support Network [KWISN], a group of locals working daily to help families caught in the immigration crackdown and also tracking ICE patrols.

The local doesn’t know the reason Elvis was stopped on US 1, but the federal government’s immigration crackdown has become a common sight on the Overseas Highway, from Rockland Key up to Key Largo.

“Elvis is on temporary protective status,” the local said.

“He and his mom have been working to try to get on the path to citizenship for a long time.“

The same picturesque highway that attracts some 3 million tourists each year to the Keys, a global tourist destination where the economy relies on visitor spending, over the past month has become an immigration crackdown trap for drivers.

KWISN has posted multiple warnings this week, urging immigrants not to drive unless they have US citizenship or permanent resident status.

Photos:
1. A federal crackdown last month in Key Largo led to the arrest of 12 immigrants. U.S. Customs and Border Protection
2. Elvis Garcia graduating from the city’s Firefighters Academy in May
3. An arrest on Nov. 25 was made on the water off Key Largo. U.S. Customs and Border Protection