OAN’s Brooke Mallory
2:35pm – Tuesday, April 16, 2024
A video currently making the rounds online shows a motorboat full of people speeding ashore at North Carlsbad City Beach around 11 a.m. Saturday.
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According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), at least 15 to 20 people jumped from the suspicious vessel. In the video, most of them can be seen fleeing and jumping into a waiting SUV at Garfield Street and Grand Avenue in Carlsbad.
Upon arrival at the scene, CBP air and sea interdiction personnel and U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered the abandoned boat. It was seized by CBP Air Marine Operations.
“Law enforcement agencies are investigating this incident,” CBP said.
The mayors of Carlsbad and San Marcos and the vice mayor of Oceanside joined forces after watching the video and learning about previous smuggling operations. He also called on state and federal governments to strengthen their borders.
“We need border security for the safety of our residents, and we need it now,” Vista Mayor John Franklin said at a news conference Monday.
Oceanside Deputy Mayor Ryan Keim said, “The confusion at the border, the fact that many of those who cross the border know there will be no consequences here, exacerbates this and threatens the safety of our city.” “It’s degrading sexuality,” he said.
Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn echoed this, saying, “What I’m really concerned about is human trafficking. What are they bringing in? Drugs, weapons, and terrorist watch lists coming in by boat. Who is on it?”
State lawmakers are being asked by San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond to amend Senate Bill 54, which would limit cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies.
“So even if those people were caught, even if the people who got off the boat were caught, maybe the car that they were all in was stopped. Local police, sheriffs, police departments. failed to turn them over to Customs and Border Protection. It has to stop. It has to be fixed,” Desmond argued.
Meanwhile, Lillian Serrano, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, argued that “the immigration system’s deterrence tactics are being weaponized against immigrants,” leaving immigrants with few options to enter the country illegally.
“This has made access to ports of entry extremely complicated and forced migrants to take extremely dangerous journeys, including crossing deserts, climbing border walls, and attempting to enter the country by sea. “There are,” Serrano said.
This is not the first time a motorboat full of illegal immigrants waiting to be offloaded has been seen crashing onto California’s coast. In November 2023, federal authorities desperately tried to search for more than 20 suspected illegal aliens on a boat that washed up on a beach in Malibu.
Please call the Joint Port Operations Center. 1-800-854-9834 (Ext. 1) If you have information regarding this incident, please
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