Coast Guard detains more than 20 migrants on boat off California coast

Newport Beach, California, Mayor Will O’Neill is blasting state lawmakers after the Coast Guard apprehended 21 migrants who were on a boat nearly a mile off the coast on Thursday.

FOX 11 in Los Angeles reported that 18 of the migrants who were detained were from Mexico, while two were 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 said, directing his comments 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, Coast Guard crews apprehended the 21 individuals about a mile from shore in Newport Beach after noticing suspicious activity from the boat they were on.

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“We come across boats on a regular basis,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Levi Read told the station. “Not all the time do they have that many people on it, though.”

O’Neill said his concern is that when people are coming into the U.S. through the southern border, especially from Uzbekistan, “something is broken.”

“Every city in California now is essentially a border city thanks to SB 54,” he told FOX 11. “We’re told our local authorities are prohibited from working with federal authorities from stopping people like this.”

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A sailboat cruises through Newport Harbor on March 2, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Also known as the “California Values Act,” SB 54 is sometimes referred to as a “sanctuary state” law.

The law was implemented in 2018 and effectively legalized noncooperation between state law enforcement agencies and federal immigration officials.

FOX 11 reported another incident involving illegal immigrants in Newport Harbor in May. Video of the incident reportedly showed more than 20 suspected migrants walking onto a pier before scattering into town.

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The station located the fishing vessel used 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 were handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.