Last month, Townhall covered how illegal border crossings from Canada to the United States have escalated, specifically between Quebec and New York. One area where apprehensions occurred was Roxham Road, which was closed for good in 2023 due to the overwhelming number of asylum seekers who used it to cross the border.
According to CBC, in 2023, border agents recorded 12,000 apprehensions at the northern border, CBC noted. In 2022, this figure was 3,600. In 2021, it was 1,006. This year, there have been 5,600 apprehensions from January to April.
Sgt. Daniel Dubois of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who leads the Champlain border patrol unit, told the outlet that his team has been facing a “surge of human smuggling activity” this year. Over some weekends, they’ve recorded 300 interceptions of “U.S.-bound runs across along the 168-kilometre border stretch they patrol.”
This week, Axios reported that human smuggling has primary become a focus for federal authorities in Washington state as illegal immigrant crossings continue to uptick.
Robert Hammer, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, told the outlet that with so much attention on the southern border, and “historic” amount of irregular activity at the northern border gets overlooked.
"We need to know who is coming into the country and why and know they are not a threat," he said.
Like New York, Washington state has seen an uptick in border crossings in recent years (via Axois):
By the numbers: In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded 10,021 encounters of people trying to enter outside the official ports of entry along the northern border — compared to 2,238 in 2022 and 916 in 2021. Official "encounters" include all people found entering the U.S. illegally, including some who are assisted by smugglers.
– In Washington, the Border Protection sectors and offices in Blaine, Seattle and Spokane reported 1,662 encounters in 2023, compared to 494 in 2022 and 166 in 2021.
– Washington's reported encounters for fiscal 2024 has already passed last year's total, at 2,094 as of May 31, per CBP.
– 12,859 encounters between official ports of entry have been reported nationally by CBP in fiscal year 2024.
"As migration trends rise around the globe, illegal migration is a challenge faced by both the U.S. and Canada," Adam Barratt, Canada's consul general to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, told Axios.
"It is important to note, however, that the vast majority of people traveling between our two countries do so legally,” Barratt added.
Axios noted that a Romanian national pleaded U.S. District Court in Seattle in March for conspiracy to transport people who were not legally in the U.S. Reportedly, he picked up 12 illegal migrants in a vehicle that had seats for eight, with two children found unrestrained in the trunk.
In another instance, a California man was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to smuggling more than 800 people into Washington state from Canada using 17 Uber accounts. Many of the people smuggled paid $11,000 each.
This week, Townhall covered how U.S. Border Patrol stopped a human smuggling operation on the St. Clair River, which separates Michigan and Ontario. A boat dropped off three passengers on U.S. soil where they got into a vehicle waiting for them. The person operating the vessel was apprehended when he got back to Canada.