After the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a boat with 21 immigrants headed for California, O’Neill took to Fox News’s The Faulkner Focus on Tuesday to rail against the state’s sanctuary status. In this case, these immigrants were handed off to Customs and Border Protection to be properly processed and likely deported, something O’Neill said local law enforcement is “handcuffed” from doing due to Newsom’s policies.

“Because one of the problems we have here in California is when they use the word ‘sanctuary state,’ it is a cute phrase they are trying to evoke piece. But the truth is, illegal immigration means we don’t know who is coming in, we don’t know when, we don’t know what they’re doing. It is not just illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s not peaceful, it’s destructive,” O’Neill said. “Voters in California have shown their disgust with feeling unsafe. One of the worst tricks Newsom plays here in California is redefining phrases.”

Last year, CBP reported over 52,000 encounters with migrants who traveled by land, air, or sea to California. This number does not include those who attempted to cross the southern border into California, which included part of 2.4 million.

“This policy is insane. When you have Uzbeki nationals coming in on a boat, and we’re not vetting them on purpose, that’s crazy,” O’Neill said.

Illegal immigrants outside of the main countries of Central America made up almost half of the encounters CPB reported.

The sanctuary city status has made Los Angeles, California, the target of Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R-TX) campaign to offload illegal immigrants found at the Texas border. Since June of last year, Abbott has sent 1,500 immigrants.