SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Migrants have turned to jet skis, small boats and even surfboards to cross the border illegally, a California Border Patrol agent recently told Mexican media.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, agents from the San Diego Sector have apprehended 120,000 migrants since the 2024 fiscal year began in October through the end of January, and hundreds have reportedly taken place in the ocean.
Migrants from 126 countries have been detained, including 24,000 from Colombia, 15,000 from Mexico and 2,000 from Ecuador. Many people from Central America, Venezuela have also been reported along with countries as far away as Turkey, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Russia, Romania and Afghanistan.
For the 2023 fiscal year, agents encountered 231,000 migrants in the San Diego Sector.
Border Patrol Agent Gerardo Gutierrez told the El Sol Newspaper in Tijuana that 600 of the arrests this year have been made in and along the ocean, with some migrants trying to swim around the border barrier that extends into the water.
Others, he said, have been stopped after entering U.S. waters on jet skis, surfboards, panga boats and other vessels.
According to Gutierrez, 13 migrants have died so far trying to unlawfully enter the U.S.
Last fiscal year, the death total was 39.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reports that 90 percent of the people crossing the border are requesting asylum.
Border Report reached out to Border Patrol officials in San Diego and is awaiting a response.
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