U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Port Everglades deported four cruise ship crew members following routine screening. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Miami and Tampa Field Office, after screening their phones, the crew members allegedly admitted to possessing child sexual abuse material.
A cruise ship crewmember was allegedly detained and later deported from the United States following a shoplifting incident during shore leave at Port Canaveral, according to information shared by Miami and Tampa Field Office page.
According to report on March 24, Brevard County Sheriff's Office deputies contacted CBP regarding a crewmember who was allegedly involved in a shoplifting case while ashore. The incident was reported when local deputies responded to a shoplifting situation involving a cruise ship crew member.
Authorities at Port Canaveral have continued a series of deportations involving cruise ship crew members, this time following a targeted Child Sexually Exploitative Material (CSEM) enforcement operation.
A Filipino crew member who was scheduled to join a cruise ship has reportedly been denied entry to the United States after landing in Los Angeles on October 27. According to his family, the young seafarer was escorted by U.S. immigration officers shortly after disembarking his flight, questioned, and subjected to a full inspection of his luggage and personal phone. Within hours, he was informed that he would be deported to the Philippines, with authorities citing “moral turpitude” on the paperwork.
Four Filipino crew members working aboard Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas were deported by U.S. authorities on Friday, September 26, 2025, shortly after the ship docked in Fort Lauderdale.
According to an anonymous crew member onboard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requested that the four male crew members meet officials upon the ship’s arrival. All four were subsequently deported later the same day.
The Port of Baltimore became the site of a protest on September 14, 2025, as dozens of people gathered to speak out against the deportation of the Filipino seafarers. The crew members, who had been working aboard a Carnival Cruise Line were abruptly removed from the vessel a week earlier, sparking outrage within the Filipino community and among labor rights advocates.
One Indonesian and three Filipino crew members of the cruise ship Carnival Pride were detained and deported after the ship arrived at the Port of Baltimore, Maryland on September 7, 2025, Marino PH reported. The Philippines’ largest maritime community shared a first-hand testimony from one of the deported crew members, who worked as a galley steward.
The stories emerging from Norfolk, Virginia are heartbreaking and enraging. At least 18 Filipino crew members aboard Carnival Sunshine, were forcibly removed from the ship, handcuffed, detained, stripped of their dignity, and deported back to the Philippines. These crew who held valid C1/D crew visas have now been banned from reentering the United States for 10 years.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents recently detained and removed crew members from Victory I and Victory II, the two small cruise ships operated by Victory Cruise Lines, while the vessels were sailing the Great Lakes. The removals happened during scheduled port stops in the United States, with Detroit confirmed as one of the key locations.
Cruise ship passengers sometimes try to smuggle things back into the country using a cruise ship, but this case was on a whole different level. Two women returning from a cruise raised eyebrows when they showed up at the Long Beach Cruise Port with 10 suitcases and a suspiciously calm attitude. Customs officers took notice and quickly uncovered why.
