Boatload of Immigrants Reaches Base

An aging and rusty fishing boat crammed with 172 illegal immigrants from China living in filthy conditions was brought to a Navy base Friday, escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Federal health workers met the ship, the Chih Yung, at the dock at the 32nd Street Naval Station to give the immigrants medical care. The boat had been stopped by the Coast Guard three weeks ago 100 miles west of Baja California.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service took the immigrants into custody to begin the process of deciding which were ringleaders in the smuggling attempt and might face charges and which might qualify for asylum. Others will be returned home, an INS spokesman said.

The ship had been floating in international waters about 50 miles off San Diego while the State Department decided what to do with the immigrants. Federal marshals were at the pier to confiscate the ship.

“The conditions on the vessel were deteriorating, and we were very concerned about those aboard,” State Department spokeswoman Susan Snyder said Friday.

The 185-foot boat’s main compartment was no longer inhabitable because it was filling with water, oil and sewage, Snyder said.

The Chih Yung was registered in Belize, which had to give authorization for the boat to enter the United States. The country was on the heels of an election and the government was in the midst of a changeover, which delayed permission, Snyder said.

Meanwhile, China’s top military leader, Gen. Zhang Wannian, was expected to arrive in San Diego on Friday as part of a 10-day visit to the United States.

The 172 passengers were jammed below deck in desperate need of food and water when they and 10 crew members were discovered by the Coast Guard on Aug. 27. Since that time, Coast Guard crew and Navy doctors remained with the boat and supplied the group with food, water and hygiene supplies.

Officials said the Chih Yung appeared to have been headed to Mexico, where the migrants were to be transported by ground routes into the United States.

Snyder said the migrants had been on the boat for about 55 days when they were intercepted, and each had paid about $30,000 for the journey.

About a year ago, 69 Chinese immigrants were intercepted by the Coast Guard in the same area. After more than two weeks of wrangling between the U.S. and Mexican governments over who should take custody of the migrants, U.S. authorities flew all but four of them back to China. Those four were allowed to remain in the United States to apply for political asylum.