The United States Coast Guard apprehended 37 suspected illegal immigrants off the coast of Southern California last month, the Coast Guard said in a Nov. 1 statement.
A Coast Guard crew intercepted 13 suspected illegal immigrants off San Diego on Oct. 9. The individuals, found traveling on a 24-foot vessel, were transferred to the custody of Imperial Beach Border Patrol agents.
Coast Guard Cutter Narwhal intercepted 23 suspected immigrants aboard a cuddy-cabin vessel floating close to Santa Cruz Island on the same day. The crew transported them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The agency also detected a personal watercraft traveling at high speed off Point Loma on Oct. 17.
The vessel’s operator did not comply with instructions, prompting a pursuit.
A wave eventually struck it, and it capsized. Authorities apprehended a passenger while the boat operator escaped.
“Our crews stand ready to conduct border security operations, enforce federal laws, and keep our waters safe,” Coast Guard Capt. Jason Hagen, Southwest District chief of enforcement, said in a statement.
“Dangerous and illegal migration attempts place lives at risk, especially when smugglers use overcrowded, poorly equipped vessels not suited for ocean conditions.”
Human smugglers are motivated solely by financial rewards, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and show scant concern for the people being transported, placing them at significant risk.
Three Dominican Republic nationals were indicted for allegedly being part of a maritime human smuggling vessel that capsized near Puerto Rico in late September, killing three people.
“The defendants attempted to illegally smuggle 64 migrants into Puerto Rico, leading to the tragic deaths of three people and 12 individuals are still missing. This case demonstrates the grave danger associated with human smuggling operations,” Hector Ramirez-Carbo, acting United States attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, said in an Oct. 8 statement.
A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle drives past the US–Mexico border fence which runs into the Pacific Ocean near Friendship Park in Imperial Beach, Calif., on Nov. 7, 2021. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Two boat captains had pleaded guilty earlier in April in a case of attempted maritime human smuggling that led to the deaths of four migrants, including two children. Each foreigner was allegedly paying about $13,500 to be illegally transported into the United States.
The Coast Guard has faced criticism for how it tackled maritime illegal immigration before 2025.
A January report from the Government Accountability Office suggested that the Coast Guard needed to improve its maritime interdiction efforts.
The agency assessed the Coast Guard’s maritime migrant interdictions between fiscal years 2015 and 2024 and found that it failed to meet targets for six years during this period.
The Coast Guard missed its target for intercepting migrants attempting to enter the United States in fiscal year 2015. The target was reduced, and the Coast Guard met the new goal in 2016 and 2017.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter is docked at Coast Guard Island, Alameda, Calif., on Nov. 21, 2025. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
It failed to meet the target for the next four years, from 2018 to 2021. The target was once again lowered. The Coast Guard then met this reduced goal for the next two years, but failed to do so in 2024.
The Coast Guard made a trade-off to address a jump in maritime migration levels that began in 2021.
“Specifically, it redirected assets to migrant interdiction that it had originally allocated to other missions, such as drug interdiction. This impacted its ability to conduct those other missions,” the report said.
In 2025, Coast Guard interdicted or transported more than 11,000 illegal immigrants as the agency’s crews patrolled over 100,000 miles of U.S. border.
