The US Coast Guard has intercepted more than 70 migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States in recent weeks. The most recent incident happened on Friday, August, 28, 2026, when the captain of a 30-foot pleasure craft 88 miles offshore of the Santa Barbara, California, channel requested Coast Guard assistance.
The vessel’s captain reported it had been drifting without food, fuel, or water for two days and that there were not enough life jackets for everyone aboard.
A large-scale rescue response was launched by air and sea, far offshore in rough conditions at night, and within five hours the ship was located and boarded.
When the 37 people aboard the distressed boat were transferred to the US Coast Guard Cutter Sockeye, they were found to be migrants suspected of attempting to enter the US illegally, which led to the involvement of US Customs & Border Protection and the US Border Patrol.
The following units of the Department of Homeland Security participated in the rescue effort as well as the law-enforcement mission that followed:
Coast Guard Cutter Halibut (WPB 87340)
Coast Guard Cutter Sockeye (WPB 87337)
Coast Guard Station Channel Islands
Coast Guard Station Los Angeles-Long Beach
Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach
Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Interdiction Agents
U.S. Border Patrol
The migrants were brought ashore at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach, where they were transferred to U.S. Border Patrol personnel.
On Thursday, August 27, 2026, a Coast Guard Patrol Plane off Puerto Rico spotted an overloaded 22-foot boat in Mona Passage engaged in a human-smuggling run toward the US territory and maintained a watch over it, along with US Customs & Border Protection aircraft, until the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos intercepted it at sea.
The cutter crew found 19 citizens of the Dominican Republic aboard the vessel. The migrants were returned to the Dominican Republic on Monday, August 31, 2026.
On Wednesday, August 12, 2026, the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Terrell Horn intercepted a suspicious small boat 7 miles west of San Diego at 2:15 in the morning. The cutter launched a small boat crew, which boarded the “panga” style vessel and discovered it was involved in a human smuggling run with nine migrants aboard. They took the migrants into custody and turned them over to the US Border Patrol.
Finally, on Saturday, August 1, 2026, the crew of a Coast Guard Station San Diego 45-foot Response Boat conducting a boating safety patrol in Mission Bay interrupted another human smuggling attempt when it boarded a 22-foot Seaswirl vessel and discovered nine undocumented migrants aboard.
The vessel was escorted to a lifeguard dock in Mission Bay. Those aboard were transferred to the custody of Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station agents for further processing.
Are you surprised that the cartels are attempting to smuggle groups of migrants across into the US by sea?
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