In a startling incident, shots were fired as U.S. Border Patrol agents pursued a panga boat carrying undocumented migrants off the San Diego coast. On February 2, Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Maritime Operations released footage showing agents tracking the vessel near San Clemente Island and firing warning shots.
The video depicts agents alerting the boat with sirens while shouting instructions in both Spanish and English to halt its movement. As the boat attempted to evade capture, agents successfully intercepted it.
In one particularly tense moment, a migrant onboard was seen at gunpoint, asking officers to “calm down” as they ordered him to step away from the helm. Following the boarding of the boat, officers restrained the migrant with a cable tie.
Authorities later confirmed that 12 individuals had been apprehended, including three minors, with one being as young as 11.
The footage illustrates a high-speed chase involving a small crew of about a dozen people. Agents could be heard issuing commands in Spanish, and after a brief pursuit, they fired warning shots before boarding the vessel.
Interestingly, despite the surge in maritime migrant encounters—nearly doubling to 14,500 in 2021—funding for these interception missions has remained stagnant at approximately $1.2 billion, according to reports from the Migration Policy Research Institute.
