Thousands of miles from the U.S.–Mexico border, another illegal immigrant crisis is playing out—at the northern boundary with Canada.
Illegal crossings along the 5,525-mile northern border have increased nearly seven-fold over the past three years under the Biden administration.
Border officials apprehended 189,401 illegal immigrants along the U.S.–Canada border in fiscal year 2023, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. In 2021, CBP recorded 27,180 illegal crossings along the same border.
The 295-mile Swanton sector is taking the brunt of illegal crossings on the Canadian border. The sector includes all of Vermont and several counties in New Hampshire and New York state.
It’s home to sprawling forests and swampland that are particularly treacherous to illegal crossings during the winter months.
CBP data shows that arrests in the Swanton sector have skyrocketed from 365 in 2021 to 6,925 in 2023.
In the first six weeks of 2024, CBP has already intercepted 3,192 illegal immigrants across the sector.
In a previous Epoch Times report, several business owners in the Swanton sector said the problem is only getting worse as more and more illegal immigrants made use of their hotel lobbies seeking shelter.
Many illegal border crossers bound for metropolitan areas such as Boston and New York were flush with cash and cellphones, they said, and found rides were easily obtainable from U.S. citizens for a price.
Steve Slepcevic, CEO of disaster management company Strategic Response Partners, said the less publicized northern border crisis is severe.
In conversations with law enforcement, Mr. Slepcevic told The Epoch Times that he’s shocked at “how porous the border is.”
“There’s no border control. It’s way easier,” Mr. Slepcevic said. “I think it’s serious, but it’s not as bad as what’s coming across the southern border.”
Along the 1,951-mile U.S.–Mexico border, CBP apprehended more than 2.4 million illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2023.
Mr. Slepcevic said that many military-age men, including gang members, are coming across; what he described as a “Trojan horse.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently reported the arrest of a Honduran national and member of the “notorious 18th Street gang” after he tried to reenter the United States following six previous deportations.
“Not only is he a self-admitted member of a violent criminal enterprise, but he has also repeatedly defied U.S. immigration laws in order to flee some serious charges in his home country,” said Todd M. Lyons, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston field office director.
News outlets have also reported gangs charging $6,000 to sneak other illegal immigrants into the country from Canada.
Mr. Slepcevic sees it as a worsening domestic security threat; illegal border crossers can easily procure weapons in the black market.
Moreover, he said these young men easily slip under the radar once past the border.
“The sad thing is that when it shows its ugly face, we’re going to know it,” he said.
“We need secure borders. We need to vet the people coming in. These guys are coming in with no IDs. They shred any paperwork they have before crossing the border. They name themselves whatever they want to.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the CBP for comment but received no response by publication time.
