The U.S. Coast Guard says water crossings in the San Diego area have dropped by 50 percent since the president declared a national emergency in March 2025, while Operation Border Trident has helped increase the capture rate for maritime crossings. Coast Guard Capt. Chris Cumberland, deputy comman der of Coast Guard Forces Southwest Border, said illegal immigration by sea has fallen 60 percent compared with the previous year. He said the Coast Guard’s capture rate, which was 50 percent a year earlier, grew to 85 percent in 2025. “It’s been highly successful we’ve decreased flow of illegal immigration by 60 percent compared to the year before,” Cumberland said. Cumberland attributed the change to an increase in mariners and the use of new technology, including drones and remotely operated watercraft. He said smugglers have responded by traveling farther offshore and expanding the areas where they operate. “They’ve been pushing further and further offshore and going a little bit higher into the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas.” Coast Guard crews cover 8,000 square miles between Tijuana and Los Angeles. Cumberland said crews are seeing fewer panga boats and had approximately 300 encounters last year, significantly fewer than 18 months earlier. “We see jet ski activity the most. The most reoccurring event is jet skis after that would be wrecked boats.” The Coast Guard says maritime crossings can happen at any hour. While some smugglers prefer the cover of darkness, others try to blend into port and harbor traffic. Officials also say smugglers use unsafe boats that are often severely overloaded. Smugglers have been known to leave people far from land or even throw people from boats in attempts to delay or prevent capture. Adriana Jasso, who works with the American Friends Service Committee, said migrants can face deadly risks when relying on cartel smugglers. “They’ll be risking their lives, or they can be a target for illegal organizations to paint a picture or a process that in reality they are not being fully honest people could end up losing their lives.” Cumberland said Coast Guard crews are encountering fewer migrant families and that men ages 18 to 40 make up the largest demographic they encounter. “Most are military age males 18 to 40 that’s the largest demographic we see. Occasionally somewhere around five or 10 percent at most would be females or minors.“ The Coast Guard says the decline in crossings and increased capture rate show progress in efforts to discourage human smuggling and dangerous ocean journeys, though interdiction efforts continue. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less