by DARIEN CAVANAUGH

The people of Key West, Florida don’t take kindly to bullies, especially federal bullies. When Washington blocked the only road to the mainland, the islanders formed their own nation … then caused a series of international incidents.

It all started on April 18, 1982, when residents and tourists leaving the Florida Keys ran into an unexpected delay. Without prior notice, the U.S. Border Patrol had set up a roadblock and checkpoint on U.S. Route 1 in front of Skeeter’s Last Chance Saloon in Florida City. It was the only road out of town.

Although they were not crossing a national border, agents required U.S. citizens leaving the Keys to verify their citizenship and submit their vehicles to a search. That’s despite the roadblock not being on an international border.

The roadblock served to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the U.S. through the Keys. The area had seen an influx of immigrants and refuges from Cuba since the Mariel Boatlift two years earlier. But Border Patrol agents also used the stops to search for illegal drugs.

The delays often lasted several hours, causing traffic to back up for up to 19 miles. It was an inconvenience for residents, but more importantly — it discouraged tourists from visiting the Keys. Tourism is a large source of income to the islanders … and they were losing money daily.

“No one in Key West doubted that drugs were trafficked widely in the Keys by road and by boat” government professor Robert Kerstein wrote in Key West on the Edge — Inventing the Conch Republic. “But tourism’s boosters had little tolerance for interruptions to their business.”

Dennis Wardlow — then Key West’s mayor — acted quickly to address the crisis. He contacted the city’s chief of police, the sheriff of Monroe County, the district’s Florida State representative and Gov. Bob Graham to find out who ordered the roadblock and to demand its removal.

None of them knew who called for the barrier, but they all knew they didn’t have the authority to close it. Wardlow finally contacted the Border Patrol directly. It didn’t go well.

The captain of the Border Patrol told Wardlow the roadblock was “none of his business.”

“Don’t tell a Conch it’s none of your business,” the mayor replied, invoking the nickname of residents of the Keys. The Border Patrol had unwittingly sown the seeds of rebellion.

Wardlow consulted with his city council, business leaders and tourism boosters to discuss the federal agency’s “attack on Key West’s sovereignty.” They decided to seek an injunction from the federal district court in Miami to get the roadblock removed.

On April 22, a small group of Conchs — including Wardlow and local attorney and pilot David Paul Horan — flew to Miami. When Miami’s U.S. District Judge C. Clyde Atkins failed to issue the injunction, he left the citizens of the Keys with little recourse.

“Tomorrow at noon the Florida Keys will secede from the Union!” Wardlow announced to reporters gathered on the courthouse steps on his way out of the building. He and his associates headed home to prepare.

“The first act of rebellion occurred before they had even returned to Key West,” Kerstein wrote. “Horan, a seasoned pilot, buzzed the roadblock on their flight back to the island city.”