Newport Beach, Calif., Mayor Will O’Neill blasted state lawmakers after the Coast Guard nabbed 21 migrants on a boat about a mile off shore Thursday.
FOX 11 in Los Angeles According to the report, 18 of the detained migrants were from Mexico, while two were from Uzbekistan and one from Russia.
“You have no intention of protecting Uzbek citizens coming from our southern border,” O’Neill said, directing his comments to California lawmakers. “Get your act together, figure it out, because we have real problems affecting real people in your cities across California. You can’t continue to treat every city in California like a border town. You Can’t put us in this position, we have real problems, and we need you to fix them now.”
On Thursday night, Coast Guard crews arrested 21 people about a mile offshore in Newport Beach after seeing suspicious activity from the boat they were on.
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The Coast Guard arrested 21 migrants on Thursday from a fishing vessel about a mile off the coast of Newport Beach, California. (US Coast Guard)
“We encounter boats on a regular basis,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Levi Reed told the station. “Though they don’t have that many people all the time.”
O’Neill said his concern is that “something breaks” when people come to the United States from the southern border, particularly from Uzbekistan.
“Every city in California is basically a border city now thanks to SB 54,” he told FOX 11. “We have been told that our local authorities are prohibited from working with federal authorities to stop such people.”
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A sailboat sails through Newport Harbor on March 2, 2023. (Alan J. Shebin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Also known as the “California Values Act,” SB 54 is sometimes referred to as the “secret state” law.
The law was enacted in 2018 and effectively legalized non-cooperation between state law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities.
FOX 11 reported another illegal immigrant incident in Newport Harbor in May. Video of the incident reportedly shows more than 20 suspected migrants walking down a pier before dispersing into the city.
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The station located the fishing vessel used in Thursday’s incident, reportedly a 34-foot-long fishing boat with life jackets stacked inside.
The 21 immigrants apprehended Thursday were turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and Louis Cassano contributed to this report.
