16 Mexican immigrants were being flown aboard a 25-foot yacht off the coast of California on Saturday, according to the US Coast Guard, and they were handed over to border guard. A Coast Guard lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft spotted the crowded ship about 54 miles off the coast of Point Loma, near San Diego, for the first time. According to a Coast Guard media release released on Sunday, a blade was dispatched, and the ship, Petrel, stopped the boat and took the workers into custody. All aboard the ship claimed to be Mexican. Following US President Donald Trump‘s pledge to arrest illegal immigrants in the US, the Coast Guard has increased its efforts to capture immigrant arteries. This most new intercept comes after earlier ones in recent months. A “panga-style” ship carrying Russian citizens and Dominican Republic workers was stopped earlier this month about three miles off the coast of Puerto Rico. A 30-foot boat carrying 132 Creole workers, including women and children, was intercepted about 50 km off the Florida coastline in February. Over 300 Creole workers were stopped near the Bahamas last year, and they were one of the largest current interceptions, and they were later returned home.
