Illegal border crossings at the U.S.-Canada border in New York, New Hampshire and Vermont have escalated, as migrants take advantage of “understaffing” and other conditions, according to a report from the New York Post.
Reportedly, more than 12,200 migrants were apprehended crossing the border illegally from Canada last year. The year prior, 3,578 were arrested (via NYP):
Much of the illegal crossings — about 70% — occurred along the 295-mile Swanton Sector, which includes upstate New York, New Hampshire and Vermont, the data show.
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Experts say the migrants who make it to Mexico and can afford a $350 one-way plane ticket from Mexico City or Cancun to Montreal or Toronto are making their way south to cross the northern US border — where they are less likely to be turned away than those who cross the southern border.
The US border with Canada is much longer than the border with Mexico, and the ports of entry are often understaffed as the CBP focuses on the surge in migration at the southern border.
Northern states see highest record of border crossings as migrants take advantage of lax laws to get into Canada https://t.co/uT6DZ8y5uD pic.twitter.com/O7viKNEzUE
— New York Post (@nypost) February 12, 2024
In the Swanton Sector, 3,100 people from 55 different countries have been apprehended since October. This is more than the total of the previous four fiscal years combined, according to Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia.
Since October 1, 2023, Swanton Sector Border Patrol Agents have apprehended more than 3,100 subjects from 55 countries (more than Fiscal Years 2022, 21, 20 & 19 combined). Photo: An early morning apprehension of 4 adult males from Bangladesh on February 1, near Mooers, New York. pic.twitter.com/nAf5KG467R
— Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia (@USBPChiefSWB) February 2, 2024
The Post noted that the majority of the northern border does not have fencing. In an interview with The New York Times, Democrat New York Assemblyman Billy Jones stated, “The northern border has pretty much been ignored.”
Reportedly, illegal immigrants that cross over from Canada tend to enter through Clinton County, New York, and stay in Plattsburgh. From there, they take buses to New York City (via NYP):
A gas station in the city has become an unofficial meeting spot for migrants strapped for funds, and local motels are often forced to take migrants in during the winter under a rule that requires them not to turn away travelers when temperatures drop below freezing.
Those frigid conditions have also proved deadly to migrants hoping to enter the country.
At least a dozen migrants — including families, children and one pregnant woman — have been found frozen to death in rivers or in the forest bordering the two countries.
Townhall previously reported how 12 illegal immigrants were arrested after they illegally entered the United States in northern Minnesota in an apparent human smuggling attempt.
Minneapolis-based outlet KARE 11 reported that the migrants, who were from Ireland and Great Britain, attempted to enter the U.S. over the course of two days in September. Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement reportedly stopped the migrants.
According to a Border Patrol press release, a Border Patrol agent was notified that two vehicles made unlawful entry into the states near Roseau, Minnesota. The border patrol agent caught up to one of the vehicles where he determined that one of the passengers was a citizen of Great Britain and the other three were citizens of Ireland. All four were unlawfully in the United States.