The Trump administration has deported a Mexican illegal immigrant who entered the United States illegally by boat. Octavio Jorge Cortes-Jiminez, who was wanted for “attempted femicide” in his home country, was among a group of nine illegal aliens traveling in a panga-style vessel that reached American waters near San Diego on August 12. The Coast Guard intercepted the boat, and Border Patrol later took custody of the group and identified Cortes-Jiminez’s outstanding warrant. The Coast Guard intercepted over 4,200 boat migrants in 2025.
Jesus Rocha, the acting Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Diego, said the office “remains committed to removing illegal aliens who are wanted abroad for serious criminal charges.” He added that coordination with domestic and international partners “helps protect communities and ensures fugitives are returned to face justice.”
Maritime Smuggling Concerns.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan has warned that migrants are increasingly attempting to reach the United States by sea after land routes were restricted by the Trump administration. Speaking in Miami recently, he noted that many stage in the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. “We knew once we locked down the Southern border, they were gonna take to the waterways, they were gonna take to the air, they were gonna take to Canada to try to come across,” Homan said.
A Government Accountability Office report found that Coast Guard interdictions of maritime migrants reached their highest levels in more than 30 years under the former Biden-Harris government between October 2021 and September 2023. The agency intercepted roughly 12,500 migrants in fiscal year 2022 and a similar number the following year. In fiscal year 2025, which ran from October 2024 to September 2025, Coast Guard interdictions of illegal immigrants dropped to 4,228.
Homan acknowledged the drop but said further action is required. “There are vulnerabilities; you are not as locked down [at sea] as the Southern border,” he stated. “So we’re going to work very hard these next two years to make sure the maritime and the air has the resources, technology, and boots on the ground that they need to secure this maritime border.”
