Coast Guard Rescues Group of Illegal Immigrants in Disabled Boat Near San Diego

Border crossings are down, but migrants continue to try to access San Diego by water.

In a file photo, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter off the San Diego coast, in San Diego, on May 2, 2021. Denis Poroy/AP Photo

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 17 illegal aliens aboard a disabled boat floating about 50 miles southwest of San Diego on March 30.

Eighteen people were on board the 35-foot-long boat spotted in international waters just before 8 a.m. Sunday, according to the Coast Guard.

The boat was taking on water and requested assistance, the Coast Guard reported.

A helicopter air crew at the Coast Guard Air Station in San Diego was joined by the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance to make the rescue.

The Spruance launched a 23-foot-long rigid hull inflatable boat crew to bring the people to safety.

The helicopter air crew then picked them up from the Spruance to take them into San Diego, according to the report.

In all, one American and 17 illegal immigrants were brought to the Coast Guard’s base in San Diego in two separate flights.

All 18 people were transferred to the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard reported.

“Irregular maritime migration aboard unseaworthy or overloaded vessels is always dangerous, and often deadly,” the Coast Guard warned in a news release Monday. “Do not take to the sea. You could lose your life.”

A few weeks earlier, on March 11, another 15 illegal immigrants were rescued from a boat adrift off the southernmost coast of California near San Diego.

A total of 31 illegal immigrants were also smuggled into the United States from Mexico on boats in six different events from March 3 to 9, the Coast Guard reported.

California local and state representatives say there has been a rise in illegal maritime crossings in the state, likely due to the Trump administration’s efforts to slow the flow of land crossings.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew moors a boat to a pier in Bodega Bay, Calif, on Nov. 3, 2024, after searching for a group of boaters that went missing near Bodega Bay. United States Coast Guard via AP

According to the White House, Border Patrol agents in the San Diego sector are now making about 30 to 40 arrests per day, down from more than 1,200 per day during the height of migrant arrivals in the region.

“The men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection continue to aggressively implement the President’s Executive Orders to secure our borders, and as a result of this leadership, we have achieved historic lows in border apprehensions,” said Pete Flores, acting commissioner, in the agency’s March 12 report.

Nationwide, the Border Patrol reported apprehending an average of about 330 illegal crossers a day in February, the first full month since President Donald Trump took office.