{"id":311486,"date":"2026-06-18T08:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311486\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:30:25","slug":"coast-guard-opens-fire-on-boat-smuggling-25-chinese-nationals-off-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311486\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard opens fire on boat smuggling 25 Chinese nationals off Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

FIRST ON FOX \u2014 In a stark warning that U.S. borders are closed “by land or sea,” the U.S. Coast Guard<\/a> opened fire to disable a noncompliant vessel attempting to smuggle 25 Chinese nationals into the country off the coast of Florida.<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security<\/a> (DHS) told Fox News Digital that on June 10, a boat carrying 25 illegal immigrants from China refused to comply with Coast Guard orders to stop one mile south of Key Biscayne.<\/p>\n

Crews from Coast Guard Station Miami Beach<\/a> initially deployed warning shots, but when those proved ineffective, they used “disabling fire” to successfully halt the vessel, according to DHS. No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n

US COAST GUARD EXPANDS BORDER PATROL EFFORTS TO COMBAT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Boat <\/p>\n

Dozens of illegal immigrants claiming to be from China were arrested after their boat was halted off the coast of Florida. (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)<\/p>\n

Following the interdiction, the Chinese nationals were transferred to the Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell for processing, and their boat was seized and towed to Station Miami Beach.<\/p>\n

Special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s Homeland Security Investigations launched a criminal investigation into the attempted<\/a> entry, with assistance from Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations.<\/p>\n

DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis delivered a stern warning following the bust.<\/p>\n

\"FILE <\/p>\n

Special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) responded to the interdiction and initiated a criminal investigation. (Charly Triballeau\/AFP)<\/p>\n

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS STORM US BEACHES AS COAST GUARD BATTLES MIGRANT SURGE THAT ROSE UNDER BIDEN<\/a><\/p>\n

“This sends a clear message to illegal aliens attempting to enter the United States: don\u2019t even think about it,” Bis told Fox News Digital. “By land or sea, our borders are CLOSED.”<\/p>\n

Lt. Matthew Ross, commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Miami Beach, emphasized local, state and federal maritime law enforcement partners remain vigilant against unlawful migration ventures.<\/p>\n

\"DHS <\/p>\n

DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital illegal migrants should not attempt to enter the country by land or sea. (@ushomelandsecurity via YouTube)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

“Anyone considering one of these dangerous voyages should understand that they are risking their lives at sea and can expect to be interdicted and repatriated,” Ross said.<\/p>\n

The enforcement action falls under Operation Vigilant Sentry, a layered approach by the Coast Guard and its partners<\/a> to maintain a continuous presence across the Florida Straits, Caribbean Sea and surrounding waters to deter and prevent illegal maritime migration.<\/p>\n

Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.<\/p>\n

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! FIRST ON FOX \u2014 In a stark warning that U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6080,1993,28,30,29,15897,8234],"class_list":["post-311486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-border-security","tag-coast-guard","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-homeland-security","tag-illegal-immigrants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}