Coastal Florida is not the only part of America susceptible to migrants illegally entering the United States. The California coast has long been vulnerable to illegals coming in by sea, but a CBP official has said the last three years have seen an “exponential increase in maritime smuggling” into the state.
Brandon Tucker, director of the CBP Air and Marine Operations in San Diego, said recently that while in fiscal year 2020, 308 maritime smuggling events were recorded in California, by 2023, the number had reached 736, a nearly 140% increase. Since 2020, almost 8,000 illegals have been apprehended while trying to enter the US illegally through the Pacific Ocean.
On March 27, a CBP plane detected a “panga” boat with more than a dozen migrants on board. Border Patrol agents reached the beach just ahead of the smugglers’ boat, where they apprehended at least 10 migrants, plus the driver of an intended getaway car.
Not all illegals are apprehended, of course. In January, a speedboat full of illegals beached itself at nearly top speed near La Jolla, allowing its occupants to run up a staircase and disappear into the city in full view of a number of witnesses. Otherwise, successful got-aways are detected by boats abandoned on the beach. A month before the March 27 encounter, for example, Tucker discovered an abandoned boat on the same stretch of beach while walking his dog. He told Fox News that many landings happen on popular beaches near homes and asked people to call police if they see a panga come ashore. He said:
Allow us to get out there and try to apprehend these people entering illegally. But also start the cleanup effort for the panga and potential hazardous materials on board.
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