adminThe U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday announced the deployment of personnel and equipment to various maritime borders in the United States, a day after President Donald Trump dismissed the military branch’s leader.
In a statement, Coast Guard Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said coast guardsmen would work to detect and deter illegal migration in support of Trump’s executive orders issued this week.
“The U.S. Coast Guard is the world’s premiere maritime law enforcement agency, vital to protecting America’s maritime borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Lunday said. “Per the President’s Executive Orders, I have directed my operational commanders to immediately surge assets—cutters, aircraft, boats and deployable specialized forces—to increase Coast Guard presence and focus…”
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Key areas where authorities will focus their efforts include the waters off Florida to deter and prevent migrants from Haiti and Cuba from entering the U.S., and maritime borders around Alaska, Hawaii, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Somoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Lunday also wrote in the release that the agency would target the “maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America.”
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico. In the federal executive order: “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” Section 4 rebrands the “area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico… an integral asset to our once burgeoning nation …and an indelible part of America” – as the “Gulf of America.”
The reference appears to be the first time a federal agency has acknowledged the name change.
The Coast Guard said it would also target the Bahamas and South Florida, and between the U.S. and Mexico in the Pacific Ocean.
In addition, the Coast Guard will support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities on maritime portions of the southwest U.S. border.
“Together, in coordination with our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense teammates, we will detect, deter and interdict illegal migration, drug smuggling and other terrorist or hostile activity before it reaches our border,” a news release states.
On Monday, Trump also issued a flurry of executive orders cracking down on illegal immigration.
Among the many charges was the termination of Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, 61, who was fired by Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman.
Huffman didn’t cite a reason for the dismissal, but a senior DHS official told Fox News that Fagan was removed for failure to address border security threats, insufficient leadership in recruitment and retention, mismanagement in acquiring key acquisitions such as icebreakers and helicopters, excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and an “erosion of trust” over the mishandling and cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor, which was the Coast Guard’s internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
