This is the moment a panga boat full of migrants washed up on a San Diego beach as Customs and Border Protection agents arrested 10 passengers.
The fishing boat headed toward the shore of Solana Beach, a coastal city in San Diego, around 6:50 a.m. Wednesday.
It was discovered by the San Diego Air and Marine Branch of U.S. Customs Border and Protection, CBP’s Michael Scappechio said. KUSI.
It is unclear where exactly the migrants came from and how many of them were on the boat, as CBP is still searching for passengers who managed to escape.
DailyMail.com reached out to the agency for more information but did not hear back in time for this report.
A panga boat full of migrants washed up on a San Diego beach when Customs and Border Protection agents arrested 10 passengers Wednesday morning
It is unclear where exactly the migrants came from and how many of them were on the boat, as CBP is still searching for passengers who managed to escape
Along with the boat, a nearby vehicle suspected of being involved in the reported smuggling operation was seized, CBP said.
In the video, people on board the ship are seen frantically running away as it reached the sandy shore.
As this happens, beachgoers are seen staring in awe as the boat, now empty, remains in the water.
At the end, another boat is seen in the distance, but it is unclear whether it was involved or not.
In February, a shocking video resurfaced of Border Patrol agents releasing hundreds of migrants at a bus stop in San Diego, just a week after the city had to close a shelter intended for them due to a lack of funding.
Nonprofit organization SBCS has closed its recently opened migrant facility for good, mirroring the bleak picture across the country as the number of asylum seekers coming to the U.S. remains skyrocketing.
During the release, more than 350 migrants were left to fend for themselves on the streets after CBP released them at a transit center, although aid groups tried to help them as best they could.
The groups tried to put together makeshift facilities and tried to get them to a parking lot so they could charge their phones and drive to the airport.
Another boat is seen in the distance, but it is unclear whether this vessel was involved in the suspected smuggling operation
In February, a shocking video resurfaced of Border Patrol agents releasing hundreds of migrants at a bus stop in San Diego
The migrants were also left with nowhere to stand and no public toilets in a completely full parking lot
They also had nowhere to stand and no public toilets in a completely full parking lot.
A taxi driver tried to take advantage of the situation by guaranteeing rides to the airport for $100, double what Uber and Lyft charged.
Many of the migrants — who came from South America, Africa and China — were still grateful to be there, with plans to meet family or go to immigration courts in other cities.
“I dreamed a lot about this (moment), and thank God I am here,” said Abd Boudeah, 23, from Mauritania.
He told NBC San Diego that he had fled his home due to persecution for homosexuality and was going to Chicago to live with a cousin who has lived in America for 20 years.
In a recent interview with CBS News, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said the crisis at the southern border is a “national security threat” that is “keeping him up at night.”
Owens said he was particularly concerned about the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who have not been apprehended and processed at the border while en route to the US.
Illegal migrants break through barbed wire as they forcibly enter the United States through the southern border on March 21, 2024
President Joe Biden, center, surveys the southern border. He is accompanied here by USBP chief Jason Owens (center left) on February 29, 2024.
“What keeps me up at night is the 140,000 escapes,” Owens said — the number of migrants who have sneaked into the country undetected since October.
‘Why are they hiding? What do they have to hide? What do they bring in? What is their intention? Where do they come from?’ Owens explained that the USBP’s main concerns are for those who escaped, whose background and location are virtually unknown to the government.
‘We simply don’t know the answers to those questions. These things represent to us the threat to our communities,” he said.
Owens said his department is on track to record about two million apprehensions by the time the fiscal year ends in September.
The chief said “border security is a major part of national security,” and the illegal migrants being smuggled into the country are “exploiting a vulnerability” currently facing the nation.
Owens said the migrants who have entered the U.S. this year have come from at least 160 different countries, some many continents away.