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The United States Coast Guard intercepted a vessel with 25 Chinese citizens attempting to illegally enter the country one mile south of Key Biscayne, in southern Florida, according to an official statement from the Department of Homeland Security released this Wednesday.
The crew of the Miami Beach Station approached the vessel after detecting it on June 10, but the ship refused to comply with the orders to stop.
The coast guard fired warning shots that proved ineffective and eventually resorted to disable fire to stop the vessel. No injuries were reported.
Following the interception, personnel from Customs and Border Protection, through their Air and Marine Operations, arrived to assist with the operation. Special agents from the Homeland Security Investigations of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also responded and initiated a criminal investigation.
The 25 migrants were transferred to the coast guard vessel Margaret Norvell for processing, while the boat was confiscated and towed to the Miami Beach Station.
Lauren Bis, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was direct in her message: "Last week, a Coast Guard crew from the Miami Beach Station found a vessel with 25 Chinese nationals attempting to enter the United States illegally."
"This sends a clear message to illegal foreigners trying to enter the country: don't even think about it. By land or by sea, our borders are CLOSED."
Lieutenant Matthew Ross, officer in charge of the Miami Beach Station, warned that those considering embarking on these journeys "are risking their lives at sea and can expect to be intercepted and repatriated."
The incident is part of a sustained pattern of irregular Chinese migration to South Florida by sea.
According to a study by the International University of Florida, encounters with Chinese citizens in the Miami area increased by 85% in 2025 compared to the previous year, and maritime arrivals of migrants in the sector rose from 18 in January to 95 in December of that same year.
In January 2025, two Cubans were arrested in Miami accused of trafficking Chinese migrants who arrived by sea from the Bahamas.
One of the detainees, Lucas Sedeño Rodríguez, stated that he received $5,000 to pick up migrants in vans in Coral Gables. That same month, a Chinese migrant attempted to reach the U.S. on two paddleboards and was returned to the Bahamas.
The operation on June 10 was conducted under the framework of Operation Vigilant Sentry, the interagency effort that maintains continuous presence with air, land, and maritime assets in the Florida Straits, the Windward Passage, the Mona Passage, and the Caribbean Sea.
The case is still under investigation. ICE had recorded 37,908 Chinese nationals on its deportation list in 2025, although repatriations to China have historically been complicated by the lack of formal repatriation agreements between the two countries.
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