Following Thursday night’s discovery of 21 migrants on a boat close to Newport by federal officials, the mayor of Newport Beach is venting his displeasure at California lawmakers.
Of the migrants, two were from Uzbekistan, one was from Russia, and 18 were from Mexico.
Will O’Neill, the mayor of Newport Beach, told California lawmakers, “There’s no way you intend on trying to protect Uzbeki nationals coming in from our southern border. Get your act together, figure this out, because we’re having real problems affecting real people, in your cities all across California. You cannot continue to treat every city in California like a border city. You cannot put us in this position. We have real problems, and we need you to fix them now.”
The 21 people were captured by the US Coast Guard Thursday night around one mile off the coast of Newport Beach. Authorities claimed to have observed their watercraft behaving strangely.
“We come across boats on a regular basis,” stated Petty Officer Levi Read, the Chief of the U.S. Coast Guard. “Not all the time do they have that many people on it though.”
“When you have people from Uzbekistan, of all places, coming in through the southern border, something is broken,” O’Neill stated. “Every city in California now is essentially a border city thanks to SB 54. We’re told our local authorities are prohibited from working with federal authorities from stopping people like this.”
Read Also:Â New Hampshire Shelter Struggles with Over 1,000 Mice After Breeding Crisis
U.S. Customs and Border Protection received the 21 migrants who were apprehended on Thursday.
