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Coast Guardsmen in Southern California are seeing an influx of migrant crossings by boat — and with them, more foreign nationals from U.S. adversary countries.
Over the last 90 days, the Coast Guard has recorded about 200 migrant boat encounters near the San Diego coast, amounting to approximately two migrant boat interventions per day, officials told Fox News Digital.
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More daily migrant boat interdictions
“We see a myriad of elderly, male, female, children,” Coast Guard District 11 Capt. Jason Hagen told Fox News Digital. “We’re starting to see an uptick in other nationalities, as well, which is a…national security concern because it’s not just your economic Mexicans looking to come to the United States for work. It’s also … bad actors coming from other countries. We’ve seen nationalities to include Chinese, Russian, Uzbekistan[i], Pakistan[i]. It’s really all over the place.”
Hagen added that 10 or 15 years ago, most boats carried migrants from Mexico.
US COAST GUARD RESCUES 3 AFTER BOAT CAPSIZES OFF FLORIDA COAST: VIDEO
Over the last 90 days, the Coast Guard has recorded about 200 migrant boat encounters near the San Diego coast, amounting to approximately two migrant boat interventions per day, officials told Fox News Digital.(Coast Guard San Diego)
The Coast Guard captain attributes the recent uptick in boat encounters and “landing” encounters, when Coast Guardsmen find beached boats with abandoned life jackets, to increased land border security under the Trump administration.
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“The smugglers have to move their operations somewhere.”
— Jason Hagen
“What you’ve seen in the news certainly has an effect on the maritime environment,” Hagen explained. “It’s kind of like squeezing a balloon — you squeeze the balloon, and the air pushes to the other side, right? Well, that’s the same thing that’s happening with the migrant flow. They’re locking down the land border pretty good … where they used to get thousands a day. Now, they’re now down in the hundreds a day. So, the migrants have to go somewhere. The smugglers have to move their operations somewhere. And we’re starting to see an uptick in the maritime environment.”
The Coast Guard captain attributes the recent uptick in boat encounters and “landing” encounters as well as an increase in foreign nationals from China, Russia and Pakistan being smuggled by boat.(Coast Guard San Diego)
Hagen also noted the dangers of smuggling activity at sea.
“Smugglers are not in the business of safety. They’re in the business of money.”
— Jason Hagen
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“Just last night … we had a case where we interdicted a vessel 20 miles offshore with 16 people on board who … their boat was disabled at sea, and they [were] at sea for two days with no food or water. … Had we not found them, they could have just continued drifting west and further into the Pacific Ocean.”
BIDEN-ERA COAST GUARD FAILED TO ‘CONSISTENTLY’ STOP DRUG SMUGGLERS: WATCHDOG
The Coast Guard locates a vessel carrying 16 people that had been stranded at sea for two days.(Coast Guard San Diego)
In February, the Coast Guard San Diego announced that the Cutter Waesche crew offloaded more than 37,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $275 million in San Diego. The offload was the result of 11 separate suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions between December and February.
Incentives for smugglers, migrants
Republican California State Rep. Carl DeMaio told Fox News Digital that migrants are incentivized by taxpayer-funded benefits — such as housing, travel and food — when they arrive in the Golden State. On the flip side, smugglers are incentivized by the hefty payments migrants will make to be escorted across the border, or in this case, to U.S. shores.
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WATCH: CA STATE REP. DEMAIO EXPLAINS HOW HUMAN SMUGGLERS HARM VICTIMS, TAXPAYERS
“Human trafficking is an evil enterprise. You’ve got these cartels and coyotes who are going … to these illegal immigrants saying, pay me $6,000, and I will bring you and your family into the United States,” DeMaio explained, adding that “this is a multibillion-dollar industry that preys on people.”
The California state representative added that the victims of the smuggling enterprise are both the migrants harmed along the journey and U.S. taxpayers.
BORDER SHERIFF IGNORES COUNTY’S NEW POLICY THAT BLOCKS COOPERATION WITH ICE IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
In February, the Coast Guard said the Cutter Waesche crew offloaded approximately more than 37,000 pounds of cocaine worth more than $275 million in San Diego.(Coast Guard San Diego)
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“It is a dangerous journey, and it also is very predatory, because many of these individuals cannot afford the $6,000 to come across land. We are being told by Border Patrol that the cost of coming through the waterways on a boat can be $12[,000] to $15,000,” DeMaio said.
“It’s also dangerous because people have drowned. People have had to be rescued on boats that are not seaworthy. So, for all the fixation that California Democrats have with protecting people and regulating unsafe transportation and any unsafe industry, they’re the facilitators of the most evil enterprise of our time.”
San Diego’s non-cooperation with ICE
Meanwhile, local San Diego officials have made recent moves to block local officials from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
RETIRED COAST GUARD HELICOPTER COMMANDER DETAILS RISKS TO AIR CREWS FIGHTING LA FIRES
San Diego’s Board of Supervisors recently voted in favor of a resolution that says the county will not provide assistance or cooperation to ICE.(Daniel Knighton)
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San Diego’s Board of Supervisors recently voted in favor of a resolution that says the county will not provide assistance or cooperation to ICE, “including by giving ICE agents access to individuals or allowing them to use County facilities for investigative interviews or other purposes, expending County time or resources responding to ICE inquiries or communicating with ICE regarding individuals’ incarceration status or release dates, or otherwise participating in any civil immigration enforcement activities.”
San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez pushed back, saying in a statement that her office sets its own rules.
Migrants line up at the southern border in San Diego.(Fox News)
“The board of supervisors does not set policy for the sheriff’s office. The sheriff, as an independently elected official, sets the policy for the sheriff’s office,” her office said in a December statement.
“As the sheriff of San Diego County, my No. 1 priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all residents of our diverse region. While protecting the rights of undocumented immigrants is crucial, it is equally important to ensure that victims of crimes are not overlooked or neglected in the process,” she said.
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WATCH: SAN DIEGO DECLARES COUNTY A ‘SUPER SANCTUARY’
Hagen said the influx of migrant boats along the San Diego coast has not significantly overwhelmed Guardsmen and, in fact, has shone a spotlight on the issue and brought more resources to his team. He said the Coast Guard wants to strengthen its presence at the southern coastline “to protect the border security and territorial integrity of the United States.”
President Donald Trump’s recent immigration-related executive orders include the declaration of a national emergency at the border, halted refugee resettlement, ordered a removal process without asylum, ordered border wall reconstruction and deployed the military to the border.
In the first nine days of Trump’s second term, ICE arrested more than 7,400 illegal immigrants and placed nearly 6,000 ICE detainers on individuals believed to be in the country illegally.
Journey lead guitarist Neal Schon, an original member of the band that launched in 1973 in San Francisco.
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The popular rock band Journey will perform a second show at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena after tickets for its Sept. 8 concert were quickly snatched up when the Hawaii-only presale began Friday.
The newly added Sept. 6 show will give Hawaii fans one more opportunity to experience Journey’s Final Frontier Tour. Concert promoter Rick Bartalini said the Sept. 8 show “will remain Journey’s last-ever performance” in the islands.
“Journey’s relationship with Hawaiʻi is unlike anything we have seen with a mainland-based artist or group,” Bartalini said in a news release. “These songs have been part of people’s lives here for generations, and the response to this final Hawaiʻi return has been incredible. The added September 6 show gives local fans another chance to be part of this historic final chapter before Journey’s last-ever Hawaiʻi performance on September 8.”
Tickets for both concerts are available at Ticketmaster.com through an exclusive presale for Hawaii residents. The Hawaii presale, which is online only, with no code required, gives local residents the chance to purchase tickets through 9 a.m. Friday before mainland access and general ticket sales begins an hour later.
Bartalini “strongly urged” fans to purchase tickets only through Ticketmaster, the official ticketing provider, and “to avoid inflated or speculative listings on resale sites.”
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A dollar from every ticket sold will support the Hawaiian Council’s local flood recovery efforts for families and communities impacted by the recent Kona-low storms.
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Journey has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. The band’s music spans more than five decades and includes chart-topping hits and rock anthems, including “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Faithfully,” “Wheel in the Sky,” “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’,” “Open Arms” and “Lights.”
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The band’s last Hawaii shows were Oct. 5 and 6, 2022, at Blaisdell Arena.
“Fans in Hawai‘i hold a special place in Journey’s heart,” Bartalini said, noting that after the band’s first public show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve 1973, the group flew to Hawaii the very next day, Jan. 1, 1974, to perform at the Sixth Annual Sunshine Festival, commonly referred to as the Diamond Head Crater Festival, for an audience of over 100,000.
From there, Journey became a recurring part of Hawaii’s concert history, performing live 34 times across the islands, including 30 confirmed appearances on Oahu and 26 shows at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena, as well as performances at UH, the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, and the Queen’s Marketplace Amphitheatre in Waikoloa on the Big Island.
“Journey’s relationship with Hawai‘i is unlike anything we have seen with a mainland-based artist or group,” Bartalini said. “For more than 50 years, they have returned to these islands again and again, from Diamond Head Crater to this final stop at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena, creating memories that span generations of local fans.
“Journey’s music has been woven into so many of our lives for generations. These are the songs people grew up with, fell in love to, drove around the island listening to, sang with their families, and carried through some of the most meaningful moments of their lives. That is what makes this Final Frontier Tour so powerful,” he added.
Parts of Idaho looked like the Arctic on the first full weekend of summer when torrential thunderstorms and hail flooded the streets with ice floats, according to dramatic social-media footage.
In a wild scene Saturday outside the state’s capital of Boise, a resident was caught on Instagram footage paddling a bright green kayak through the ice-covered floodwaters rushing down a suburban road — while a rural county near Nevada was hammered with a staggering 553 lightning strikes.
“It was small hail, but there was an awful lot of it,” said Josh Smith, the Boise-based National Weather Service’s lead meteorologist, to the Idaho Statesman.
Torrential rain and hail created hoards of ice floats in the street. City of Nampa
Cars parked along local streets were nearly swallowed by surging water from the relentless rains – with some vehicles submerged up to their windows – while trash bins floated through the makeshift river, the surreal footage shows.
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The widespread storm damage across the Gem State’s Treasure Valley region – a heavily-populated area that encompasses parts of Ada and Canyon counties – was also fueled by winds topping 50 mph, the Statesman said.
A resident in a bright green kayak paddles through ice-covered floodwaters on a suburban road outside of Boise, Idaho, according to video posted to Instagram on Saturday. Instagram/@mikecollierwx
As for the hail, “Even some of our employees that were in northwest Meridian said they had several inches of small hail on the ground,” Smith said.
“That probably led to some of the flooding issues with some of those neighborhoods because all that melted off quickly, and the drains weren’t able to handle it – in addition to the inch-plus rain that we received,” Smith explained.
Lightning was also relentless throughout the storm, with rural Owyhee County – located about 150 miles south of Boise, near the Nevada border – recording a mind-boggling 553 lightning strikes.
Trash bins were seen floating through makeshift rivers. Instagram/@hollykaydrinkard
Ada County had 100 strikes in one day – the second-most ever recorded on a single day in June since 2000, according to Smith and the National Weather Service.
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Officials in Canyon County declared a countywide disaster emergency as crews scrambled to respond to the damage, while employees with the Ada County Highway District worked overnight clearing flooded roads and addressing other hazards, the Statesman reported.
The Boise Police Department shared photos of the river-like road conditions on Facebook, urging drivers to use “extreme caution.”
The Boise Police Department urged drivers to use “extreme caution” amidst the flooded road conditions. City of Caldwell
In neighboring Payette County, mudslides triggered by severe flooding caused many highway and street closures Friday, according to the sheriff’s office.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured.
The dangerous weather was expected to continue through the weekend, forecasters warned.
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The NWS issued a winter storm warning Saturday for parts of eastern Idaho, where elevations above 6,500 feet were expected to be battered with as much as 8 inches of snow.
“Plan on cold and wet backcountry conditions with a heightened hypothermia risk for those not properly dressed. Wet snow may down trees and block access to forest roadways,” the advisory warned, according to the East Idaho News.
GREAT FALLS — For Staff Sgt. Brianna St. Lawrence-Brody, service does not only happen in uniform.
Outside the gates of the base, she works at Benefis as a nurse, Great Falls Public Schools as a school nurse, and comes home as a wife and mom of four. For the Montana Air National Guard, she serves as a command post controller with the 120th Airlift Wing in Great Falls.
(WATCH: Montana nurse and Guard member earns national Air Force recognition)
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Montana nurse and Guard member earns national Air Force recognition
This year, St. Lawrence-Brody was named the U.S. Air National Guard’s Outstanding Airman of the Year in the Non-Commissioned Officer category.
She said the recognition came as a surprise, especially because her path into the Guard started later than others.
“I joined very late in life,” St. Lawrence-Brody said. “I joined the Guard right before I turned 40. So for me, every opportunity that’s presented, I want to take the bull by the horns and just run with it and do the best of my ability.”
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, she joined the Guard after finishing nursing school. She said she went straight from nursing school into helping open a COVID unit, while also working at Benefis.
She said that experience was the start of one journey, but not the whole of what she wanted to accomplish.
St. Lawrence-Brody joined the Guard for the opportunities, the challenge and to help build a future for her four children.
“It’s a little bit of a competition for myself,” she said. “Like, if I can do it, why not try my best to achieve it?”
120th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
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As a command post controller, she assists in helping move information during emergencies and major events.
“Outside, obviously, I’m a nurse. Inside the Guard, I have nothing to do with the medical field, which is kind of amazing,” St. Lawrence-Brody said. “It keeps me on my toes.”
She explained balancing the Guard, two civilian jobs and four children takes support from her family, her employers and her unit. She said Benefis and GFPS have been supportive of her military service.
Her nomination included her deployment experience, training work overseas and involvement across the wing. St. Lawrence-Brody said she deployed to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where she worked with an operations center supporting entities connected to Africa.
But, she says this recognition is not the finish line.
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“This award, it’s not necessarily a landing pad for me,” St. Lawrence-Brody said. “I want to use it as a springboard.”
120th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
St. Lawrence-Brody hopes her story encourages others to keep taking on new opportunities, even when they feel uncertain.
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable and be okay with doing things afraid,” she said. “I think when you get to be okay with doing things afraid, that’s where you’re going to find the growth.”
She has already won at the Air National Guard level, but she recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of the broader Air Force Outstanding Airman of the Year process, which includes nominees from the Guard, Reserve and major commands across the Air Force.
