Coast Guard rescues 37 migrants found adrift on boat off Southern California coast

Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times on Sep 3, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Coast Guard says it rescued 37 migrants aboard a boat last week after it drifted for days without food or water near Oxnard.

Coast Guard radio operators received a distress call about 3:40 p.m., Aug. 28 from the driver of a 30-foot pleasure craft 88 miles off of Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.

The driver said the boat was “drifting without fuel, food or water for two days and lacked personal safety equipment,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

Several Coast Guard vessels began a search for the boat, ultimately locating it around 8:30 p.m. Coast Guard officials rescued 37 people, suspected to be undocumented migrants, and brought them to the Coast Guard base in Long Beach.

The migrants were transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.

“Despite operating far offshore in rough conditions at night, they persevered until every person in danger was rescued,” said Master Chief Peter Nelson, the officer in charge of one of the rescue vessels.

The U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to written questions about the specifics of the rescue. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment.