Coast Guard triples border security to stop smugglers
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The Coast Guard is significantly expanding its presence along the Southern border as part of the Trump administration’s enhanced border security measures. This expansion includes a threefold increase in Coast Guard resources deployed to combat maritime drug trafficking and human smuggling operations.
Peter Nelson, Officer in Charge of Coast Guard Station San Diego, stated, “We’ve essentially tripled the amount of Coast Guard assets on the southern border. This has happened in the last two months.”
Under @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem, the @USCG is defending our third border: the American coastline. The brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard are patrolling the skies and seas searching for illegal aliens and smugglers trying to enter the country. pic.twitter.com/NUeYUhdH4q
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 3, 2025
Recent data from the U.S. Coast Guard reveals that maritime interdictions of unauthorized migrants have maintained consistent levels. Since the start of the current fiscal year on October 1, 2024, authorities have recorded 260 vessel stops. This follows 561 stops in fiscal year 2024 and 703 in the previous year.
“It’s been pretty consistent over the last few years,” Nelson said. “The one thing that has changed is the amount of boats and aircraft in the area to help detect and in the interdiction of folks coming across.”
US Coast Guard triples number of guardsmen protecting the border — as migrant crackdown turns to the seas https://t.co/Ydxl9dOOkD pic.twitter.com/zCI24XDzrh
— New York Post (@nypost) April 4, 2025
This enhanced maritime presence aims to address both narcotics trafficking and human smuggling activities that increased during Biden’s presidency. The Trump administration’s border security initiative included early changes to Coast Guard leadership to strengthen America’s defensive capabilities.
A significant leadership change occurred in January when then-acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamin Huffman removed Admiral Linda Lee Fagan from her position as Coast Guard commandant. The dismissal stemmed from multiple concerns, including her inadequate response to border security challenges, leadership deficiencies in personnel management, excessive focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and questionable handling of sexual assault investigations at the Coast Guard Academy during Operation Fouled Anchor.
