Mayor Will O'Neill of Newport Beach, California, is slamming state lawmakers after the Coast Guard arrested 21 migrants on a boat about a mile off the coast Thursday.
FOX 11 in Los Angeles According to reports, 18 of the detained migrants were from Mexico, two from Uzbekistan and one from Russia.
“There's no way we're going to try to protect Uzbeks coming in from our southern border,” O'Neill told California lawmakers. “Get your act together and understand this, because we have serious problems that impact real people in your cities across California. You can't keep treating us like this. We have a serious problem and we need it fixed now.”
On Thursday night, Coast Guard crews arrested 21 people about a mile off the coast of Newport Beach after noticing suspicious activity from a boat with 21 people on board.
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The Coast Guard on Thursday arrested 21 migrants from a fishing boat about a mile off the coast of Newport Beach, California. (US Coast Guard)
“We encounter boats on a regular basis,” said Chief Petty Officer Levi Reed of the Coast Guard. “However, we don’t always have that many people participating.”
O'Neill said he is concerned that “something is broken,” especially when people from Uzbekistan enter the U.S. through the southern border.
“Thanks to SB 54, every city in California is now effectively a border city,” he told FOX 11. “Local authorities are working with federal authorities to stop these people. I heard that it is prohibited.”
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A sailing ship sails through Newport Harbor on March 2, 2023. (Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
SB 54, also known as the “California Values Act,” is sometimes referred to as the “sanctuary state” law.
The law went into effect in 2018 and effectively legalized non-cooperation between state law enforcement and federal immigration officials.
FOX 11 reported on another incident involving an illegal immigrant at the Port of Newport in May. Video of the incident showed more than 20 people, believed to be migrants, walking on the pier before scattering into the town.
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Police identified the fishing boat used in Thursday's incident, which is reportedly a 34-foot fishing boat with life jackets stacked on board.
The 21 immigrants arrested Thursday were turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
