The mayor of Newport Beach, California, blasted California lawmakers after a boat of illegal aliens arrived in his town and were apprehended by the Coast Guard.
The boat of 21 illegal aliens, including one Russian, two Uzbeks, and 18 Mexicans, was apprehended roughly a mile off the coast of the Orange County city late last week.
“When you have people from Uzbekistan of all places coming in through the southern border, something is broken,” Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill said in an interview. “We are told that our local authorities are prohibited from working with federal authorities to stop people like this.”
He specifically cited Senate Bill 54, which prevents state and local resources or personnel from being used to assist federal immigration enforcement efforts.
“Get your act together, figure this out, because we’re having real problems affecting real people, in your cities all across California,” he added. “You cannot continue to treat every city in California like a border city.”
It isn’t the first time that illegal aliens have attempted to enter Newport Beach by boat. Roughly 20 suspected migrants were caught on camera arriving at Newport Harbor before scattering in the spring of this year.
One resident expressed her concern following the attempted illegal entry, indicating that she’s worried about the toll that illegal immigration takes on public, taxpayer-funded services.
The incident is part of a broader trend of illegal alien smugglers entering the United States by boat. The Daily Wire exclusively reported that the United States Coast Guard was investigating a potential maritime human smuggling operation in Malibu, California last December after a boat was found on the shore.
Exclusive: Coast Guard Suspects ‘Migrant Landing’ In Malibu, Second In Weeks On California Coast pic.twitter.com/O77rCA9UXy
— Spencer Lindquist 🇺🇸 (@SpencerLndqst) December 20, 2023
That potential landing occurred just weeks after video footage captured a boat of roughly two dozen illegal aliens landing on the shore of Malibu, over 100 miles north of the United States border with Mexico.
Maritime smuggling operations are also notoriously dangerous. The Department of Justice recently convicted one Dominican human smuggler after he attempted to bring 48 migrants to the United States illegally by boat before it capsized, killing 11.