00:02So it is easy to forget that our waters are actually a border too and as numbers at the
00:07southern border are shrinking we're actually seeing an increase in what's called non-land
00:11encounters. That's why the Coast Guard is ramping up its patrols. I spent six hours in the air with
00:17them over the coast of Florida. Take a look. Riding with the U.S. Coast Guard you never know
00:28what to expect especially out over the Atlantic Ocean looking for migrants. The mission today is
00:35it's border security, maritime border security. The crew flies off the Florida coast south toward
00:42Cuba and over the Bahamas. This area is a hotbed for migrant activity. We agreed not to show the
00:49secret technology the Coast Guard uses to spot the migrants for miles away but mission system
00:55operators are looking at screens in the back of the plane and telling the pilots which direction
01:00to fly. When you're out here looking for vessels what what are you looking for what makes it suspicious
01:05to you? Yeah we're looking for a number of different things. We're looking for for vessels moving in a
01:11certain direction so if they're moving southbound really not it may not be a large indicator if
01:18they're moving northbound it might give us an indication of that we should probably go ahead
01:22and take a look. There's also a lot of you know whether it's 20, 30 people on board or maybe
01:29even
01:29more 100 to 200 people these are all kind of indicators of what we're looking at. The Coast Guard
01:37has been busy with interdictions this month. Which one is it? Doce, trece, or quatorce? 31 migrants packed
01:43onto a small fishing boat. Two dozen Chinese migrants hiding out in an engine compartment and look at
01:49this. A Chinese migrant found miles offshore on a paddle board with a suitcase strapped to it. Do they
01:57ever spot you and try to get away from the plane going the opposite direction or? They tried to prolong
02:03the
02:04situation. They do if they do see us that that would be an indicator that they would if they were
02:09to adjust
02:10course might be a factor that they're they don't want to be found. We're flying to about a thousand feet
02:16right now over the Capelle Islands which are part of the Mahamas not far from the Cuba. This is an
02:21area
02:22the Post Guard says they're allowed to see migrants. They think they've actually made it to the American
02:27shore and don't realize that this is part of the Mahamas. If they can be somewhat in distress what
02:33they'll do is they'll open this cargo door and then they can actually drop down food supplies
02:39and even a radio. The migrants are from different countries nearby like Cuba and Haiti but also far
02:46away like China. Well we've had an 8,000 percent increase in the number of Chinese migrants that have
02:51been caught actually around the Florida coast. That's just going to increase because as as enforcement
02:57becomes harder and tougher to get into in the southern border you're going to see more and more
03:01Chinese and other migrants trying to flow flow into Florida. And the migrant ocean crossings are
03:07not just on the east coast of the United States. The Coast Guard spotting 20 migrants in a small boat
03:1321 miles off the coast of California. 17 males and three females from Mexico and China were trying to
03:20sneak in by sea. But even if you can't see them flying high above the ocean the Coast Guard is
03:26watching when they spot migrants they dispatch Coast Guard cutters to intervene. I think a lot
03:33of Americans think of the border as you know U.S. Mexico you always see that on TV but people
03:38don't
03:39realize this is actually a border too right out here in the ocean. Oh yes of course we advise anyone
03:45that they think that they would like to enter the U.S. illegally to not take to the seas. Not
03:53only are
03:53these ventures illegal but they're also quite dangerous. And please do not trust these transnational
04:03organizations. These humans these smugglers they do not care about you.
