Opinion: The Illegal Immigration Scam in Key West
- Liana Gonzalez-Blanco
- Dec 23, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
By: Liana Gonzalez-Blanco
December 23, 2025
If the people shouting the loudest truly cared about immigrants—or about their neighbors—they would support an orderly, legal immigration system that protects everyone. Immigrants should not be exploited, and U.S. citizens should not be put at risk. What unfolded in Key West exposed something far uglier: a two-faced political performance that preached compassion while quietly profiting from lawlessness. That hypocrisy came into full view in the summer of 2025.
The Summer Everything Boiled Over
By the summer of 2025, the immigration fight resurfaced in Key West louder, angrier, and more personal than ever before. Accusations of racism and fascism echoed through City Hall chambers. The familiar “One Human Family” image fractured as neighbors branded one another Nazis for the simple act of supporting law and order. The illegal immigration scam in Key West was being exposed and stopped. That reality angered many.
At public meetings and across social media, outrage boiled over. Protesters decried the cruelty of immigration enforcement while sharing ICE arrest locations to help illegal immigrants avoid apprehension. Republicans were blamed for everything. A Conch grandmother—who had fled communist Cuba, followed the law, and became a U.S. citizen—was publicly mocked and attacked online after she spoke in favor of legal immigration at a city commission meeting.
That meeting, covered by state and national media, revealed an uncomfortable truth. The “One Human Family” motto had been hijacked and weaponized to silence dissent. Even harmless grandmothers were fair game.
Click this link for a YouTube video compilation of speakers at the city commission meeting about immigration in July 2025. Link will open in a new tab.
The commissioners and mayor were about to vote for a second time regarding 287g agreements in support of city police working with ICE to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the community. The first vote failed to approve 287g agreements, but most of them reversed their votes after Attorney Uthmeier and Governor Desantis threatened to remove them for violating Florida state law prohibiting sanctuary cities.
Police presence at city meetings increased. Officers lined the front of the room to protect elected officials on the dais. The anger was palpable. The intolerance toward anyone who disagreed with open borders was ugly and undeniable—captured on video and archived on the city’s own website. Pro-ICE residents were called "white supremacist" supporting a "fascist regime" on social media. It was proof of a once-peaceful island tearing itself apart over immigration policy.
This was not just a national argument playing out on cable news. The wave of progressive protest sweeping the country had arrived in Key West, carried largely by newer residents from liberal cities, determined to reshape the island into something longtime residents no longer recognized.
In the end, it didn’t work. Law and order prevailed. Public safety outweighed demands for cheap illegal labor. By the end of the summer of 2025, a long-running illegal immigration system in Key West—one that had operated quietly for years—began to collapse under its own weight. How the Scam Took Root
The illegal immigration scam in Key West did not begin in 2025, nor did it start with any single political party or president. What unfolded was a delayed reckoning for a system built quietly over decades.
As tourism exploded, housing lagged, wages stagnated, and lawful labor pipelines failed to keep pace. Faced with chronic staffing shortages, parts of the hospitality industry turned to illegal immigrant labor to fill the gap. Hotels, bars, restaurants, and property managers needed workers immediately—and rewarded anyone who could supply labor without asking inconvenient questions.
The system worked because everyone benefited. Businesses stayed open. Costs stayed low. Immigration enforcement was sporadic, and the risk felt manageable.
Some local businesses became magnets for illegal immigrants. With jobs waiting and enforcement inconsistent, millions entered the country unlawfully, overstayed visas, or ignored deportation orders. Yes, they broke the law—but they were enabled by businesses and politicians chasing profits and votes. It was the perfect scam, until federal investigators began pulling at the threads.
The Network Beneath the Postcard Image
Key West sells itself as carefree—a place of sunsets, cocktails, and island vibes. Behind the postcard image, however, a quieter engine powered the tourism economy. It scrubbed hotel rooms at dawn. It cleared plates after midnight. It turned over rental properties between checkouts. That engine was illegal immigrant labor.
For more than a decade, federal prosecutors would argue that much of this labor flowed through a shadow staffing system that large hospitality businesses relied on but pretended not to see. These staffing companies looked legitimate. They had official names, bank accounts, invoices, and contracts. They delivered workers on short notice, without paperwork headaches, and at prices that stayed suspiciously low. Most people knew it was too good to be legal.
Phoenix ADB Services, Inc. and the First Crack
The first public fracture came with Phoenix ADB Services Inc., a Key West staffing company embedded throughout the hospitality industry. Prosecutors said it was part of a deliberate scheme to supply illegal immigrant labor while erasing payroll taxes entirely.
At its center stood Igor Kasyanenko, a former Key West police officer who understood enforcement—and how to avoid it. Alongside him were Roman Riabov, Mikus Berzins, and Andrejs Kozlovs.
From roughly 2014 through 2020, Phoenix ADB knowingly sent illegal immigrants into hotels and restaurants across Key West. No payroll taxes were withheld. No Social Security. No Medicare. No income tax. The savings were enormous—not just for Phoenix ADB, but for the businesses paying their invoices.
When federal agents finally moved in, the defendants pleaded guilty to harboring illegal immigrants and defrauding the United States. The hotels, bars, and restaurants claimed ignorance—and that was enough to avoid criminal charges.
Operation RoomKey
The probe was led by the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The staffing company named Phoenix ADB Services, Inc was only one access point. Beneath it existed a far larger web: Paradise Choice LLC, Paradise Choice Cleaning, Tropical City Services, Tropical City Group, and other interlocking entities that shifted labor, contracts, and money as needed. When one company drew attention, another replaced it. Workers and clients stayed. The labor never stopped flowing.
The investigation—Operation RoomKey—unfolded slowly. IRS agents followed the money. Homeland Security tracked immigration violations. Prosecutors built cases across borders.
The sentences were severe as shown below:
Mykhaylo Chugay: over 24 years
Oleksandr Morgunov: 8 years
Volodymyr Ogorodnychuk: 4 years
Oleg Oliynyk and Oleksandr Yurchyk: 15 years each
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez ordered Oliynyk and Yurchyk to each serve three years of supervised release, pay $10,863,233.05 in restitution to the United States and to forfeit $11 million.
Federal filings showed the network operating as early as 2007. More than $25 million in federal tax losses were documented—excluding the savings enjoyed by client businesses that avoided benefits, insurance, and compliance. The most damning evidence was scale. These companies could not have survived without repeat clients. This was not deception. It was willful blindness.
The Human Cost
Americans paid dearly for the broken immigration system. Fentanyl flowing across open borders killed hundreds of thousands. Women and children were trafficked, raped, and murdered. Acts of terrorism were carried out by individuals who should have never been allowed into the country.
One death is too many. One child raped is too many. One mother burying her child is too many. Against that reality, complaints from progressives about ICE enforcement ring hollow.
Key West Today
Today, ICE activity in Key West is portrayed by some as sudden, political, and extreme. It isn’t. President Obama—once called the “Deporter in Chief”—removed more illegal immigrants than President Trump ever did. When Obama enforced the law, today’s loudest critics were silent. Now, enforcement is labeled tyranny, and those who support it are branded Nazis. The hypocrisy is unmistakable.
Illegal immigrants came to Key West because the work was here. The work was here because businesses created it. The magnet was economic. Everyone chased the money. Few considered the consequences.
What happened in Key West exposed how immigration is used politically—to bash Republicans, to shame dissent, and to protect a system that exploited vulnerable people while enriching the powerful.
If the “One Human Family” mantra of Key West means anything, it would include honesty, accountability, and the rule of law. It would reject exploiting illegal immigrants while pretending to defend them.
If people truly cared about anyone—immigrants or citizens alike—they would support a lawful, orderly immigration system that protects human dignity without putting lives at risk. For now, let ICE continue enforcing laws that have long been ignored. Most importantly, lets stop being hypocrites and truly embrace the One Human Family motto. Let us love and respect our neighbors, even if they vote differently than we do.
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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