Newport Seaside, California, Mayor Will O’Neill is blasting state lawmakers after the Coast Guard apprehended 21 migrants who have been on a ship practically a mile off the coast on Thursday.
FOX 11 in Los Angeles reported that 18 of the migrants who have been detained have been from Mexico, whereas two have been from Uzbekistan and one was from Russia.
“There’s no way you intend on trying to protect Uzbeki nationals coming in from our southern border,” O’Neill stated, directing his feedback to California lawmakers. “Get your act together, figure this out, because we’re having real problems affecting real people in your cities all across California. You cannot continue to treat every city in California like a border city. You cannot put us in this position. We have real problems, and we need you to fix them now.”
On Thursday night time, Coast Guard crews apprehended the 21 people a couple of mile from shore in Newport Seaside after noticing suspicious exercise from the boat they have been on.
The Coast Guard apprehended 21 migrants from a fishing vessel on Thursday, practically a mile off the coast of Newport Seaside, Calif. (U.S. Coast Guard)
“We come across boats on a regular basis,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Levi Learn instructed the station. “Not all the time do they have that many people on it, though.”
O’Neill stated his concern is that when individuals are coming into the U.S. via the southern border, particularly from Uzbekistan, “something is broken.”
“Every city in California now is essentially a border city thanks to SB 54,” he instructed FOX 11. “We’re told our local authorities are prohibited from working with federal authorities from stopping people like this.”
A sailboat cruises via Newport Harbor on March 2, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Instances by way of Getty Pictures)
Also referred to as the “California Values Act,” SB 54 is usually known as a “sanctuary state” regulation.
The regulation was applied in 2018 and successfully legalized noncooperation between state regulation enforcement businesses and federal immigration officers.
FOX 11 reported one other incident involving unlawful immigrants in Newport Harbor in Could. Video of the incident reportedly confirmed greater than 20 suspected migrants strolling onto a pier earlier than scattering into city.
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The station situated the fishing vessel utilized in Thursday’s incident, which is reportedly a 34-foot fishing boat with a stack of life jackets inside.
The 21 migrants apprehended on Thursday have been handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Safety.
Fox Information Digital’s Bradford Betz and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
