Crisis by Design: Northern Border Sees Overwhelming Flood Of Illegal Immigrants, Law Enforcement Strained

Internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos obtained by the Washington Free Beacon reveal a significant spike in illegal border crossings from Canada into the United States during this fiscal year, with over 3,200 illegal immigrants apprehended since October 2022.

This record-breaking influx has strained law enforcement resources already overwhelmed by the southern border crisis.

According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, there were 2,238 migrant encounters on the US-Canadian border in the entire 2022 fiscal year and 916 the year before.

Every month of the 2023 fiscal year has broken records for illegal entries from the northern border, with no signs of slowing down.

In response, the White House has directed two dozen CBP staff, some previously stationed at the southern border, to stations near the Canadian border.

This move follows reports of migrants traveling to Canada from Mexico to more easily illegally cross into the United States.

A senior DHS official, speaking anonymously, stated, “The situation at the southern border has spilled across all borders.”

The most vulnerable section of the northern border is the Swanton Sector, encompassing Vermont and parts of New York and New Hampshire that border Canada.

DHS estimates show a more than 2,000% increase in illegal border crossings in this sector since the start of the fiscal year, accounting for over 60% of all such crossings from Canada.

With only about 2,000 Border Patrol agents stationed at the Canadian border and roughly 450 on duty at any given time, resources such as drones and fencing available in Texas and Arizona are lacking.

As the northern border situation worsens, Border Patrol struggles to respond.

House Republicans held a hearing on northern border security, during which immigration experts and the Border Patrol union president testified that cartels and smugglers are exploiting the lack of attention on the Canada-US border.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R., Penn.) highlighted a nearly 600% increase in drug smuggling seizure weight, excluding marijuana, along the northern border between fiscal years 2021 and 2022.

Last year, authorities seized 14 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill over 3 million people. In the 2021 fiscal year, more than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, mostly attributable to fentanyl.

Under President Joe Biden, more than 5.5 million migrant encounters have been recorded at both northern and southern borders, marking the highest number in US history, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Additionally, at least 1.2 million “got aways” were reported by CBP, referring to illegal immigrants detected but ultimately not detained.

Brandon Judd, president of the Border Patrol union, testified before the House, calling for increased agency funding to secure the northern border.

With only about 450 agents on duty at any one time to patrol the nearly 5,500-mile US-Canada land and water border, Judd argued that the current situation is “absolutely unsustainable.”

The White House has falsely claimed there are at least 23,000 agents patrolling the nation’s borders.

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz oversees roughly 19,000 agents and has called for funding to hire at least 3,000 more.

.@RepStefanik said her upstate NY district is bearing the brunt of a budding illegal immigration crisis at the Canadian border.

“Joe Biden’s failure to deal with the southern border has had huge security impacts on the northern border,” Stefanik said.https://t.co/sr9L1J92U2

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 30, 2023

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