Woman Dies in California Border Patrol Boat Collision
Posted on Jun 30, 2015 8:15am PDT
On June 18, 2015, a woman died when a boat packed with undocumented immigrants collided with a U.S. Border Patrol vessel off the coast of the North County in Oceanside, California, near San Diego.
In addition to the one fatalities, at least four other undocumented immigrants were hospitalized after the boating accident.
On Thursday morning, the boat full of undocumented immigrants were being smuggled into the U.S. That's when agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection spotted the suspicious vessel and immediately went to work trying to stop it.
Boat Capsized, Sending 20 People Into the Water
The agents fired warning shots, however, the boat ignored the agents' orders to stop. A collision ensured, sending 20 of the immigrants on the boat into the ocean, capsizing the boat.
It is unclear as to which boat initiated contact in the collision. It was also unclear as to whether the boat was only smuggling people, or if they were also transporting illegal drugs across the border.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been very busy patrolling the border and trying to manage the surge of undocumented immigrants attempting to cross from Mexico into the United States.
Two main issues about border crossings: human smuggling and drug trafficking. One agent in San Diego, S. Gallagher said that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency doesn't want them conducting drug busts any longer, which has long been a key aspect of their job.
Gallagher said that there was a lot of pressure for them to get out of the drug interdiction game.
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