At Least Three Drown Off San Diego Coast When Smuggling Boat Capsizes

At Least Three Drown Off San Diego Coast When Smuggling Boat Capsizes

The rapidly expanding border crisis has now hit the beaches of San Diego, California.

This weekend, a boat thought to be illegally smuggling humans into the country capsized off the coast of San Diego. The accident left three people dead and 27 others injured.

“Every indication from our perspective is that this was a smuggling vessel used to smuggle migrants into the United States illegally,” said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jeffery Stephenson.

Lifeguard Chief James Gartland said the maritime crash was likely “one of the bigger vessel accidents” the region has seen.

“It’s a tragedy,” he said.

San Diego lifeguards initially got a report of a boat that appeared to be in trouble about 10 a.m. They were told the boat was drifting toward the shoreline, with one person on board, officials said.

It turned out the 40-foot cabin cruiser was packed with dozens of people.

The Coast Guard cut off its search for survivors on Monday:

All but two people on the boat were Mexican citizens without legal status in the U.S. The others were a Guatemalan citizen without legal status in the U.S. and a U.S. citizen who was identified as the pilot, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday. Among the 28 in CBP custody were a 15-year-old boy traveling alone and 21 men and six women, ages 18 to 39.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretary said Mexican passengers were being turned over to U.S. immigration authorities to be returned to Mexico.

According to a friend of mine who is very familiar with the area, the waters in that location can be treacherous (big rocks and even bigger waves). Authorities arrested the captain of the smuggling boat.

The suspected captain of the vessel’s name has not been released.

Brandon Tucker, CBP deputy director of air operations for the San Diego Air and Marine Branch, said the captain of the suspected smuggling boat is “a bit out of it, but he is speaking to agents on scene.”

This incident is just the most recent evidence that the magnitude of the Biden Border Catastrophe. Even Blue State senators are beginning to notice that the administration’s “Border Czar” is AWOL.

As illegal border crossings plummeted toward the end of his administration, the new administration under Joe Biden relaxed some stringent border tactics. Since then, illegal border crossings have hit new highs.

There were 172, 331 border encounters in March this year, which dwarfs any month during the Trump administration. And it was only Biden’s second full month as president.

Biden appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to be in charge of the new migrant crisis. Since her appointment, Harris has not been to the southern U.S. border, which has drawn expected heavy criticism from Republicans, but also from the left already.

Hawai’i Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono said the border and migrant scenarios are a “crisis,” and that the vice president should see it with her own eyes.

The situation at the southern border must be catastrophic if Hirono is calling out the Vice President for not at least visiting. Perhaps if someone told Harris about San Diego’s beautiful beaches, she might be inspired to come?

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