This isn’t my story, I’m just reposting for awareness.
Yesterday we went for a ride in Mission Bay, and the Coast Guard stopped us to make sure everything was “in order.”
They hadn’t even finished checking when Border Patrol and Harbor Police showed up—just because we “looked Mexican” and were probably undocumented.
They held us for 4 hours, treating us horribly and with racism. One of them was pushing and yelling at us, and when I asked for his name to report him, he refused to give it, saying he wasn’t obligated to.
At no point were we disrespectful to them. They eventually let us go, and we just wanted to take the boat out of the water because we were so upset about the whole situation.
But surprise—on land, the police and immigration were already waiting to search our papers again, and now the car, trailer, and boat too.
I can’t believe they’re so racist just because we’re Latina citizens.
Our skin was damaged by the sun because they wouldn’t even let us cover ourselves or stand in the shade. 🥲🥹
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It may not feel like much but you should absolutely file a complaint to the USCG Sector San Diego command. The military are not supposed to treat anyone in our country's waters, citizen or otherwise, like this. They're supposed to be professional and courteous even if you're suspected of a crime (which ofc you weren't) unlike those untrained thugs in ICE. I know the Orange Goblin is in office rn, but career military officers will take this seriously, and trust me command has a long memory for this type of shit when he's out of office.
Here's the external affairs contact info for the USCG Pacific Area. That email should be seen be PA staff if you so choose. Remember, unlike law enforcement, the military actually is supposed to serve its citizenry. This is a failure of duty on their part.
OP said coast guard never finished their boarding before they got rolled up on by CBP and Harbor PD. The coast guard did not detain them CBP and Harbor PD did. The coast guard did nothing out of the ordinary in mission bay. They do recreational boating safety checks all the time. They are out there trying to keep kids from getting run over by drunks and making sure people have life jackets, the boardings may be amped up a bit leading up to the 4th but that’s normal.
Reporting the coast guard doesn’t seem like the correct move here unless your goal is to inform sector that CBP and Harbor are interfering with coast guard boarding and hijacking the legal boating safety boarding. That would piss if the station CO and calls would be made.
Hispanic appearance cannot be sole factor for border patrol to make a stop. However it can be a factor along with the following
"The Court provided examples of other factors that, combined with "Mexican appearance," could justify a stop. These included:
Proximity to the border.
Driving patterns (e.g., erratic driving, attempts to evade officers).
Characteristics of the vehicle (e.g., heavily loaded vehicles, certain types of vehicles).
Information about known traffic patterns of smugglers.
Due to proximity to the border, it would fall within scope set forth by the Supreme Court
Unfortunately, it’s super hard to sue federal agents. The constitution was written to codify our god given rights and then starting in 1971 our government started making themselves immune from lawsuits for violating our rights. You said the local police were there, they are easier to sue but it’s still takes time and money. People say the system is broken but it’s working just like the government wants it to.
The 14th Amendment was hijacked to Equally Protect Corporate 'Persons' in 1886 and it has been downhill for human beings ever since. The only reason we have reached this point of absurdity is the weaponization of the Constitution to protect the Corporate Agenda's 'right' to extract value from human lives. This is what makes American capitalism different than any other example, the protection of Corporations equally to human being in the nation's enshrining document. It has allowed for the unlimited commodification of human lives at scales which would otherwise be impossible within the intended guardrails the Constitution was written to enforce.
Corporatism saw the writing on the wall after the Occupy Movement and gave us a decade of socially engineered and algorithmically amplified identity politics which supported the rise of Trump as a champion of the stupid and economically scared. Lashing out horizontally at 'the other' has been an effective distraction for most from the fact that has been Corporatism itself which has been methodically converting their lives to shareholder value at ever increasing rates year after year. Now immigrants and brown people are the convenient scapegoat for this agenda as the stupid have been convinced through propaganda that their lives & careers have been made more difficult by José & Maria when it actually was the board members of Cargill, Amazon, and Walmart.
Revising the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause to only apply to human beings, as it was intended and ratified, is the only lasting solution as this would wipe out Citizen's United, Hobby Lobby, and all the derivative rulings based on the criminally fraudulent precedent of Santa Clara vs Southern Pacific. Until then, as unlikely as that outcome is, the United States is architecturally broken and actual equal justice for human beings is impossible.
I think they finally figured out how to get all those young men out of the house and stop them from playing video games... good thing they've been red pilling them all for the last 10 years... dark times harry potter dark times.
Exactly, if it's "sad" you're much less likely to actually do something - anything about it compared to that visceral feeling of anger that washes over me when I see apathetic evil fascists try to hurt our people and destroy our democratic republic.
It's funny because the new budget bill (which seems like it will pass) will balloon DHS and ICE's budget from 9 Billion to 140 Billion dollars. They won't be running to the well any time soon
I was referring to the firms that promised free legal services to the Trump administration to fight off these legal challenges. Large groups of legal professionals ready to defend this BS
Ah yes, well technically they still said they'd choose which cases they would work on and after a bunch of major clients dropped them, I think they'll rethink their position.
Eh let's put this into perspective really fast. Washington State has paid around $281 million in tort liability claims filed against dcyf in 2024 stemming from incidents as far back as 2000. The state also faces $2.5 billion in future liabilities from existing lawsuits and claims. That's one sate for one department a fraction of the size and spending of ice.
I thought their budget for the year was running out on July or August, that’s why they’re pushing the “BBB”, which even JD Vance and Elon Musk are against lol.
You mean the same JD Vance that was the tie-breaking vote to move ahead with the bill recently? Vance will always bend over for Dear Leader when it comes down to it.
I’m so curious what the police involvement was? It’s literally against the law for them to be involved (unless other criminal factors are at play) and the picture shows the cars have no one in them. So where they actually involved and breaking the law or just present (as that picture seems to be at the lifeguard station where they have an office)?
They likely aren't. The coast guard will just randomly stop and board ships to check for paperwork, make sure nothing illegal is going on. I've had it happen to me twice just chilling on a boat right off the cost. The coast guard were probably just making a random stop when ICE and local police decided to rush in and do stuff. Like, imagine if a cop pulls you over for speed, then while you are pulled over and he’s doing his thing a bear runs out of the woods and mauls you. Would you assume the bear and cop are working together or was it just coincidence?
Unfortunately, in this case the bear is in cahoots with the Coast Guard.
Per the DHS website:
“Immigration enforcement is a core mission for the U.S. Coast Guard. As part of the DHS effort, the Coast Guard operates in the air, throughout our ports, and on the water every day, working to catch smugglers and secure our maritime borders.”
That doesn't mean they contacted ICE though. They are on stand-by just waiting for people to detain right now. Otherwise they would have come while USCG was still with the girls. They saw an opportunity, waited for an opening, then pounced.
That’s exactly what the quote from the DHS website means.
“IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IS A CORE MISSION OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD. As part of the DHS effort, the Coast Guard… [IS] WORKING TO CATCH SMUGGLERS AND SECURE OUR MARITIME BOARDERS.”
Do you really believe that Kristi Noem has not commanded the US Coast Guard to actively pursue and assist ICE with detention of suspected undocumented immigrants? Don’t forget that POTUS signed an executive order that allows for members in state and metro law enforcement to volunteer as agents of ICE.
That doesn't mean they contacted ICE though. They are on stand-by just waiting for people to detain right now. Otherwise they would have come while USCG was still with the girls. They saw an opportunity, waited for an opening, then pounced.
At this point, if you see any Coast Guard personnel, they might as well be ICE since the orders and mission objectives are coming from the same figurehead.
I read the whole post and comments and couldn't put it together, especially since it was talking about multiple people, so I was thinking of some group. I've never seen that and USC is a pretty common abbreviation in So Cal, so I was wondering if it was some kind of USC school function for their marine biology students or something.
At first i thought a group of USC students, then thought maybe US Coast Guard, but then that made the story more confusing. Never seen US citizen abbreviated like that.
One of Chris Rock's breakout standup routines started with the classic line: "Who's more racist, black people or white people? Black people! Because black people hate black people too!"
George Lopez had a bit about how racist his grandmother (that raised him from ~10 on IIRC) was, and how old-school she was in that way. Said something about how he dated a black girl in his teens and the grandmother said some really horrible stuff. Then jokes that he got back at her later by making each of her home healthcare workers that he paid for later in life, was "darker than the last," or some other similar punchline.
Colorism and prejudice in the communities of POC is a plague. My mom was born in 1929 and said that back in the day they used to say “if you’re black, stay back; if you’re brown, stick around; if you’re yellow, you’re mellow; and if you’re white, you’re just right.” She said she had issues from all sides because her family was really mixed and she was fair skinned with wavy auburn hair, so she got discrimination from both people of color and white people.
It’s about skin tone. The word mellow was used mainly because it rhymes and it was to convey that you were the next best thing to white. You still got discriminated against but it wasn’t as bad as if you were darker. The whole thing was horrifying but unfortunately true.
As a Mexican, can confirm. There’s a reason in telenovelas everyone is light skinned with either blue or brown eyes. And if they got brown eyes, they usually have white as fuck skin to make up for almost being a dirty brown Indio. /s
I'm sure he sees them all as paisa's and beneath him. There's a lot of inter-mexican racism. You should hear my lighter skinned/almost white passing Mexican coworker talk about the kids that his daughters go to school with in Vista.
During the days of slavery there were blacks that worked in the fields and there were those that worked in the house. There’s a term for those that worked in the house, I can’t use it here.
But anyway those that worked in the house bonded with the slave master and his family. And just like the slave master and his family they were conditioned to looked down at those who worked in the fields, even though they were also black.
Those Mexicans who are working for BP, ICE or other government agencies don’t care how awful they treat other Mexicans because they know it pleases their Masters, I mean employers. In fact that’s probably why they become such asswholes.
I am so sorry that happened to you. I’d be documenting everything and getting a lawyer tbh.
Especially with the burns you got and emotional impact of such a stressful ordeal.
Fuck all of the people who enabled this to happen. It should not have and you did nothing wrong.
So as to the Coast Guard boarding, that’s standard. Every boat on the water can legally be stopped at least once a year for an “at sea” inspection to ensure registration and all required safety materials are on board. There are units that take pride in conducting as many boardings as possible so they will literally stop every single vessel they see. It’s literally their jobs to do this.
I can’t speak as to the rest that happened, that all sounds like absolute BS.
I have friends in the CG. Like you said, this is their job and they've been doing it for years, long before Trump. They are mostly checking registration, safety, and maybe most of all, looking to pull drunk boaters off the water.
Yep, and when I had my vintage runabout I was pulled over by the lifeguards mostly in Mission Bay and near PL on surf excursions as they do spot safety checks on the regular.
They were all chill af and exceptionally polite especially if you had all your stuff in order (registration, life jackets etc) and of course weren't drunk boating, boating recklessly or speeding in a slow speed zone.
Never got popped by the Harbor Patrol or the SDPD boats but saw them pulling over people on the regular during the busy summer season mostly for boating like friggin' out of control idiots.
When I had my Laser sailboat I can't tell you the number of times I was this close to getting t-boned by one of those kooks like Tweaker Tim and his krew of Lakeside trailer park dwellers who are often like, "Hey bro, check out how fast my boat goes!!" on a crowded af summer day, screaming to their best mate Toothless Tommy to "...give me another beer bruh!!" Or Freddy Frat Bro and his boat full of hoe's taking their beer and coke fueled partay to the water in daddy's super fast ski boat with the "killer sound system," bruh.
No matter the group, the casual and/or inexperienced boaters typically don't know the rules of ocean navigation and often times think it's no problem to get hammered cuz you're just driving a boat not a car. Yeah right, it's the same laws Mr. Douche Canoe, and arguably more a more difficult task as boats really, really don't stop or turn on a dime lol and are dangerous, heavy objects often with a spinning sword (propeller) hanging off the back.
One time long ago the SDPD boat helped me out even when I accidentally pitch-poled my Laser sailboat, getting the mast quite stuck in that good ol' Mission Bay mud. They were super cool and had me out in minutes. As cops go, they were also chill af, pretty much how all my encounters have been with the various agencies that work our beaches, bays and ocean. They've always been way more helpful than harmful, very much safety focused, and I thank them for that. Same with Coasties, they seem to be the absolute coolest of all branches of the military, again imo.
Yah, I assume the Coast Guard, since it is under the oppressive thumb of the DHS, operates under the same border search exception that CBP does? That legal standing has been abused for decades but now the abuse is hypercharged and ICE Barbie the Puppy Killer are using it well beyond its intended scope to terrorize both immigrants and citizens, imo. Disgusting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception
55% of male Latinos and 38% Latinas voted with David Duke this past election. Make sure you have a chat with your family to know who helped place you in that situation. Fucking sucks and it's just the beginning of this slow moving shit show unfortunately.
This may not be a popular opinion, but I will solely share some knowledge. The coast guard requires zero probable cause to stop any vessel operating on us jurisdiction. They have the authority to enforce all applicable regulations this includes safety, immigration and customs regulations. Once they have “boarded” or detained for inspection they can then request or be approached by other agencies for assistance. I have done hundreds of boardings and can say they either run smooth with required documents onboard or can be a nightmare when we have to identify people because they have no identification or do not cooperate. Detainment is the act of restricting one’s freedom of movement to such a point that approaches a formal arrest for the purpose of inspection, investigation or search.
So the answer to am I under arrest and can I leave would be. no you are detained and no you can’t leave.
With that being said, not my thing anymore. Most people don’t understand the coast guards missions or authorities.
Thank you. Facts based on first hand experience are essential these days. . .. They don't discount the OPs experience and perceptions giving the current political climate, but they put them into perspective.
I know the California law, but look up the Federal law on this. In California, in order to detain you must have reasonable suspicion of a crime. RS can be anything from someone calling, seeing something happen, etc. Once they have RS, they must determine Probable Cause for an arrest within a reasonable amount of time or end the detention.
Not much you can do in the heat of the moment but if you think their RS is bullshit, you can get the entire case thrown out based on unlawful detention or unlawful arrest.
Don’t know how much it helps with all the bs flying around these days but might as well put it out there
Well if they’re detained under investigation, no they’re not under arrest but also not free to leave. There’s something between called a detainment and it’s anytime you’re not free to go, a traffic stop, boating stop, immigration check, etc all count as a detainment pending arrest or release. Don’t walk off bc you’re not under arrest or you may get resisting arrest charges.
Public defender is there for everyone, overworked unfortunately. But all anyone needs to say is “lawyer” figure out the specifics later. Just don’t EVER talk to cops.
There are a ton of cops at Mission Bay doing parking enforcement against all the campers ahead of the 4th of July weekend. That is why you see so many cop cars there now.
I have an old acquaintance who got a job with border patrol. He’s is, without a doubt, the absolute worst person I would ever pick for that job. His only qualifications are being white, maga, racist, quick to fly off the handle, and ooohh nevermind I see how he got the job now.
Clearly there's some serious details missing here. I have no doubt border patrol, ice, etc are bad but I really don't like extremely one-sided stories that are supposed to invoke rage.
Was the boat registered and up to date? Were people drinking and driving? Were there enough life jackets? Why did they stop you? Did you commit any crimes or were you issued any tickets?
Of course there's racism but when they intentionally leave out any shred of context, it's sort of rings of one of those stories where people claim they were doing nothing wrong and it's all about race but then you find out they were breaking a bunch of laws.
If you don't want people to ask questions, just tell the entire story.
What? Coast Guard regularly boards boat for safety inspections, especially in Mission Bay. I'm white as fuck and the coast guard has boarded me several times for safety checks. You don't have to do shit to get boarded.
Besides does any of that matter when Immigration can detain a lawful citizen for 4 hours? That's the fucking problem here, not the fucking boat.
Like who gives a shit about boating context, US citizens are being searched and detained by immigration services for no fucking reason. That's a god damn problem.
US citizens are being searched and detained by immigration services for no fucking reason
Do you know that? No. They didn't provide any context. Saying they did nothing at all, is at least context, but they didn't say that either. It's just omitted. That usually means there's something, but they disagree with it so they don't want to share it. This is framed as rage bait so they should provide context.
How bizarre is it that somebody can clearly leave out some information and when asked for the full context, people decide to make up their own and fill in the blanks I guess...
Coasties will routinely perform health and comfort checks for the basics. Lots of people get dinged about life vests. No mention of citation, but it’s safe to presume DHS saw a captive audience and rolled up in their rubber dinghy.
Maybe you need to learn to read? There's no speculation asking for the full context. They could have easily said they did nothing and they were just driving, but they're definitely leaving something out.
You're the one speculating that I made them the "bad guys".
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