Wealthy California beach town skirts state’s sanctuary law in planned migrant boat crackdown

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Coastal California mayor says city seeing uptick in migrant boats

San Clemente Mayor Steve Knoblock said the city has seen an uptick in so-called pangas, vessels used for smuggling migrants via the ocean.

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As other California cities double down on sanctuary policies to protect illegal immigrants, one coastal enclave is looking to work directly with border authorities to monitor its beaches 24 hours a day in an effort to thwart boats carrying illegal migrants. 

San Clemente city leaders told City Manager Andy Hall earlier this month to coordinate with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to discuss installing and using existing cameras to watch over the city’s 7 miles of coastline. 

Mayor Steve Knoblock told Fox News Digital the cameras are intended to deter illegal immigration and other criminal activity. He noted that small fishing boats called pangas often come ashore to drop off illegal migrants who disappear inland.

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A woman walks along the beach north of the San Clemente Pier as waves crash against the rocks just below the railroad tracks in San Clemente, Calif. (Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

“In the last month or so, we’ve had a large increase in the number of pangas that have come up on our beach,” he said. “It happens, and nobody seems to notice. No one seems to capture it. There’s no interdiction, and we’ve been having them with much greater frequency.” 

The city has cameras on its pier to monitor the beach for marine safety issues but none that monitor the ocean, said Knoblock. He suggested turning the cameras toward the water and adding technological upgrades. At a Feb. 4 meeting, the City Council agreed to contact the U.S. Border Patrol to inquire about working together to surveil the waters off the city, the mayor said. 

In 2021, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) warned of increased sightings of pangas being used for smuggling in Southern California. The fishing boats are used by smugglers to transport migrants and illegal drugs, according to ICE. 

At the time, ICE said around 90 migrants were caught along the coastline of Los Angeles County on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and in San Pedro, Long Beach, Malibu, Santa Catalina Island and Newport Beach in Orange County. 

In the past month, San Clemente has seen an uptick in small boats carrying migrants. In some cases, the migrants are still aboard when discovered, but, in many cases, the vessels are abandoned. The increase possibly stems from the Trump administration’s tough border measures to curb illegal land crossings into the United States, said Knoblock.

Panga boats are often used to smuggle illegal immigrants.  (KTTV)

“President Trump has done a great job of securing the Mexican border in San Diego, but we’re getting people from 150 countries that are coming up by water,” Knoblock said. “It’s like the land invasion has been stopped, but the sea invasion is starting.”

The U.S. Border Patrol operates a station and traffic checkpoint on the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in an effort to curb the smuggling of illegal immigrants and drugs away from the border area.

“Transnational criminal organizations continue to exploit the dangerous and often unpredictable maritime environment for the smuggling of people and other contraband,” a CBP spokesperson told Fox News Digital when asked about the potential camera project in San Clemente.

“In response, CBP will continue to assess the most effective deployment combination of manpower, infrastructure and technology to interdict maritime smuggling events, protect coastal communities and deliver criminal consequences to smugglers who prioritize profit over safety.” 

In addition to the smuggling vessels, the city has had to contend with Chilean gangs targeting homes to commit burglaries. 

“We’ve had a rash of Chilean gangs. They’re very organized,” Knoblock said. “They monitor the neighborhood. They come in and out in five or ten minutes. We’ve had a spate of these.”

Since 2017, local authorities in California have been prohibited from cooperating with federal immigration officials after the passage of a sanctuary state law known as the California Values Act. However, some cities are pushing back. 

A U.S. Border Patrol agent sits in a vehicle on the beach near the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego. (Getty Images)

Huntington Beach, a city north of San Clemente, is suing Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta over the law and recently declared itself a non-sanctuary city. San Clemente declined to join the lawsuit, Knoblock said, citing a proposed $100,000 allocation from the city’s general fund for litigation costs.

Despite the state sanctuary law, San Clemente’s camera project with border authorities wouldn’t involve local authorities, said Knoblock. 

A boat washes ashore at Malibu beach (KTTV)

The city doesn’t have its own police force and is served by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Don Barnes has said immigration enforcement is the federal government’s duty. 

Instead, San Clemente would work directly with border authorities. 

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.