Opinion: Key West Is A Tale of Two Cities
- Liana Gonzalez-Blanco
- Jan 14
- 5 min read
Updated: 21 hours ago
Key West Is A Tale of Two Cities January 14, 2026 by: Liana Gonzalez-Blanco
Try to make sense of Key West politics today and you’ll run straight into cognitive dissonance. Beliefs, values, and actions don’t line up the way they used to. There was a time when people argued about politics, then went fishing together or grabbed a café con leche. Those days feel long gone. The island now looks like its own “tale of two cities,” with neighbors living side‑by‑side but seeing the world in completely different ways.
Long‑time residents, fresh‑water Conchs, and newly arrived activist groups often interpret the same events through totally different lenses. One part of the community wants calm, cooperation, and continuity. Another pushes for confrontation, rapid change, and strict ideological lines. That split shows up in debates about law enforcement, immigration enforcement, public protests, and even how people define Key West’s identity. It’s the same small island, but politically it can feel like two different places.
One side cheered when a family man, Charlie Kirk, man was murdered simply for debating in public. Another side prayed for him and his family. The same side cheering that death then protested the tragic death of an anti-ICE protester. This life apparently had more value than the other, because they have ICE hatred in common. For those who support ICE, they still lamented her tragic death and prayed for her. Afterall, she has children also, and they're totally innocent. Most agree that all this death and tragedy over politics is horrible.
Immigration is where the divide shows the most. A small activist group in Key West continues to insist that everyone deported from Key West is legal. They ignore that thousands of illegal immigrants, convicted of serious crimes, have been deported from Florida. Some deny they benefit from the labor of illegal immigrants, especially in tourism, where demand has outpaced the local workforce.
Their businesses grow on the backs of immigrants, while they pretend to not know they hire illegals. The public is told that borders don’t matter by those who profit the most. They pretend to defend human rights, while creating a magnet which causes death and destruction to our most vulnerable communities.
Florida has taken a different approach. Since 2019, state law has prohibited sanctuary policies, and local governments are expected to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. That’s why most of the Key West City Commission reversed its earlier position in supporting cooperation with ICE in 2025. It took a threat from the Florida Attorney General Uthmeier to get them to follow the law. Despite the protests, ICE has successfully done its job in Florida.
In 2025, joint operations in the Florida Keys removed individuals convicted of crimes against children, the elderly, and animals. In early 2026, the governor announced that more than 10,000 individuals with serious criminal convictions had been removed statewide for offenses including rape, murder, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
Despite this, local protests against ICE continue. People absolutely have the right to demonstrate, but the selective nature of these rallies raises questions. Key West activists marched in the “No Kings” protest to oppose a lawfully elected leader, yet stayed silent when an actual dictator—Nicolás Maduro—was removed from power in Venezuela.
It’s another example of how two very different political realities now exist on the same island. The Cubans in Key West, who escaped the communism of Cuba or had family who escaped it, just shake their heads in disbelief when they see some locals protesting a fake King.
This is an island divided. The Cubans of Key West, who helped build it over generations, live side by side with people who mock their history with fake protests. If they looked ninety miles south, they would see real tyranny and suffering. The willful ignorance and selective outrage is intolerable for this Cuban segment of the population in Key West.
The island may only have 27,000 residents, but the ideological and political gap is wide. Luckily, memories of a peaceful past still linger in the minds of most residents. At some point, the community will have to come together, because this recent level of division isn’t sustainable forever.
Some local activists continue to protest the removal of criminal illegal immigrants. At the same time, they demand the city follow its rules and want everybody fired. Sometimes they demand removal without even proof of wrong doing. While demanding laws be followed, they reject laws that don’t support their views. They reject basic markings for road safety and defy HARC codes for painting fences in the Historic District. The law only applies to what they want. Anyone who dares question it, as one HARC member said at a meeting, is told “That’s offensive.”
The pattern is the same: they decide which laws matter and which facts to ignore. When challenged, the conversation often jumps to extreme comparisons. Anybody who wants legal immigration is a Nazi. If you want standard road markings instead of primary colors, you’re a homophobe. If you love America then you support racism and misogyny. The attacks are constant and some people just aren't listening anymore. They’re dismissing it as a failed attempt to win debates through outrage. This is why the public mood in America has shifted.
A peaceful society only works when everyone agrees to follow the same basic rules. If every person picks and chooses which laws or moral standards apply to them, that’s not activism—it’s chaos. The American way has always been to debate ideas, vote your beliefs, and still live together as neighbors. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we do need shared ground.
Protests are a protected right, and we should be grateful for that freedom. But it’s worth paying attention to what’s being said. If a rally promotes hatred or demands rights for one group at the expense of another, that’s a warning sign. Some movements use America’s freedoms to undermine the very system that protects those freedoms.
Despite the guilt‑trip messaging, Americans have already given more to the world than any nation in history—fighting hunger, providing medicine, defending freedom, and sending aid across the globe.
A world without America would look very different, and examples like Venezuela and Cuba show how quickly things can fall apart under failed communist systems. Maybe we could acknowledge that while flawed, America is the best country in the world.
With that commonality, then maybe we could disagree without turning neighbors into enemies. We can debate, vote, and advocate for what we believe in—and still share the same island. That’s the part of the American spirit we all still have in common in Key West.
We can at least agree on that.
Liana Gonzalez-Blanco
Liana is a Key West native who loves writing about her island home. She taught English to students in grades 6–12 for nearly 35 years in Key West schools, sharing her love of literature and language with generations of local students. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Central Florida. Liana is the owner of Conch Media Group, LLC, and the creator and manager of The Key West Post. Her goal is to keep readers informed about the issues that matter most in Key West. As a lifelong local, she offers a perspective often missing from corporate media and from journalists and bloggers who are new to the island. When Liana isn't writing and managing this website, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family. On most days, you’ll find her walking, biking, or running outdoors, soaking up the natural beauty, friendly people, and diverse cultures that make Key West so special.
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