This is the astonishing moment shots were fired as Border Patrol pursued a panga boat packed with illegal migrants off San Diego.
CBP Air and Marine Operations on Wednesday shared footage of them chasing the vessel and deploying multiple warning rounds near San Clemente Island on Feb. 2.
The agents could be seen blaring their sirens before racing alongside the small craft and ordering it to a halt in Spanish and English.
The clip cuts to the small boat appearing to speed up and try to escape, until the officers moved ahead and cut them off.
One migrant is heard telling the officers “take it easy man” as he was ordered to put his hands up and move away from the helm at gunpoint.
The video then shows the agents boarding the boat, lifting the migrants into their vessel and zip-tying them towards the bow.
California Border Patrol later confirmed 12 illegal migrants, including three minors and one aged just 11, were detained.
In the video, a high-speed chase unfolds with agents pursuing the boat, which had around a dozen people on board. The agents appeared to be yelling commands in Spanish. Border Patrol vessels eventually intercepted the boat, and two to three officers appeared to board it after firing two warning shots.
Maritime migrant detections nearly doubled in 2021 to 14,500 incidents, though funding for these missions have remained stagnant at around $1.2billion, the Migration Policy Institute reports.