Coast Guard intercepts ‘panga’ boat with 20 suspected illegal migrants in waters off San Diego

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Coast Guard finds 20 migrants off Southern California shores

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Haddock found 10 illegal immigrants on a panga boat in the waters off San Diego, authorities said. (USCG Southern California)

A Coast Guard crew on Tuesday found 20 illegal migrants in the waters off the Southern California shores.

The crew of the Cutter Haddock intercepted a 30-foot panga-style vessel 21 miles off Point Loma, the Coast Guard said. 

The boat was spotted by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations patrol aircraft and notified the Coast Guard. A small boat crew on the Haddock rushed to the boat and found the migrants.

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A Coast Guard crew found a panga with 20 illegal immigrants off the waters of San Diego on Tuesday.  (U.S. Coast Guard)

Video footage released by the Coast Guard shows the crew heading toward the boat under the cover of darkness. 

Aboard the boat were 17 men and three women, who claimed Mexican and Chinese nationalities. 

The migrants were handed off to the U.S. Border Patrol. 

As the southern land border remains secure following the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, some migrants have sought to skirt authorities by entering the United States via the ocean via beaches along the California coast, some local officials have said. 

COAST GUARD INTERCEPTS BOAT CARRYING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS AS EXPULSION FLIGHT OPERATIONS BEGIN

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“In the last month or so, we’ve had a large increase in the number of pangas that have come up on our beach,” San Clemente Mayor Steve Knoblock previously told Fox News Digital. “It happens, and nobody seems to notice. No one seems to capture it. There’s no interdiction, and we’ve been having them with much greater frequency.” 

“President Trump has done a great job of securing the Mexican border in San Diego, but we’re getting people from 150 countries that are coming up by water,” Knoblock added. “It’s like the land invasion has been stopped, but the sea invasion is starting.”

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San Clemente is located on the border of Orange and San Diego counties. The city is considering working with border authorities to install and monitor cameras to focus on the waters off the coastal enclave to spot boats carrying illegal migrants. 

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.