The United States Coast Guard intercepted 20 illegal immigrants on a “30-foot-panga-style vessel” off the coast of California on Tuesday.
In a Wednesday press release, U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Southwest announced that the Coast Guard crew of the Haddock intercepted 20 illegal immigrants roughly 21 miles from Point Loma, California.
“At approximately 4 p.m., a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations patrol aircraft sighted the sailing vessel and notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector San Diego,” U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Southwest stated. “Watchstanders then diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Haddock which launched their small boat crew.”
Wednesday’s press release confirmed that the 20 illegal immigrants were taken into custody by Coast Guard officials. Of the 20 illegal immigrants, who claimed to be Mexican and Chinese nationalities, 17 were males and three were females, according to Coast Guard officials.
READ MORE: Pic: Over a dozen illegal immigrants caught by Coast Guard
Following Tuesday’s Coast Guard operation, the illegal immigrants were taken into custody at Sector San Diego before being transferred to U.S. Border Patrol custody at Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station.
A video shared on X, formerly Twitter, by U.S. Coast Guard Southern California shows the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Haddock approaching the panga-style boat in the dark.
As President Donald Trump’s administration continues to increase U.S. border security and reduce the unprecedented level of illegal immigration experienced under former President Joe Biden’s administration, local officials in California told Fox News that some illegal immigrants have started attempting to enter the United States “by water” along the coast of California instead of attempting to cross the southern border on land.
“In the last month or so, we’ve had a large increase in the number of pangas that have come up on our beach,” San Clemente Mayor Steve Knoblock told Fox News. “It happens, and nobody seems to notice. No one seems to capture it. There’s no interdiction, and we’ve been having them with much greater frequency.”
Knoblock told Fox News that while the 47th president has “done a great job” increasing security at the border between the United States and Mexico in San Diego, “We’re getting people from 150 countries that are coming up by water.”
The mayor added, “It’s like the land invasion has been stopped, but the sea invasion is starting.”
