U.S. Border Agents Intercept Boat Carrying 14 Illegal Migrants Off California Coast

U.S. border agents intercepted a boat carrying 14 people south of Newport Beach on Friday, October 3.

Footage filmed by Ozzy Trevino for U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the group wearing red life jackets and packed onto the deck after the boat was taken to a Coast Guard dock in Newport Beach. Agents stand on the pier above them.

The 14 people were identified as Mexican nationals and included 11 men, two women and a boy. The boat was seized, and all 14 were turned over to Border Patrol.

One person was checked for dehydration and seasickness, found stable and cleared by medics.

Prosecutors later charged Jose Miguel Castro-Duenas, 44, a previously deported Mexican national, with attempted transportation of illegal aliens and illegal reentry. A charge is not a conviction.

CBP said the sea route is dangerous and that the U.S. border is closed to illegal crossings by sea.