According to a memo initially obtained by Fox News, Border Patrol requested agents to volunteer at the northern border after a jaw-dropping 846% surge in illegal aliens (mostly Mexican migrants) crossing into the U.S. from Canada.
The memo originated in the Swanton Sector, which patrols the U.S.-Canadian Border in Vermont and portions of New York and New Hampshire. In the message, the Swanton Sector requested a “quick turnaround” of BP agents from the already historically overwhelmed southern border to travel to and volunteer at the northern border for at least a month.
Swanton’s Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia wrote in the memo.
Help is needed to control the “strain caused by the surge” of “primarily Mexican migrants with no legal documents.” “Due to the increased numbers, stations are task saturated with processing large groups, which has contributed” to more migrants being able to slip into the country.
CPA Garcia requested the additional agents just a week after he reported “historic highs” in illegal crossings from Canada, even as temperatures in the area plummeted to deadly sub-zero lows.
So far this fiscal year, which began in October, CPA Garcia’s sector alone has seen an approximate 846% increase in illegal alien encounters and apprehensions compared to the same period last fiscal year.
We need the administration to reach out to Canada, just like we need them to reach out to Mexico and hold them accountable to make sure both borders are secure. - Former Yuma Sector CPA, Chris Clem
For context, the October ‘22 through January ‘23 increase in the Swanton border district has surpassed the total encounters of the last two years combined. Even worse, January’s monthly apprehension and encounter total in Swanton, 367, was more than the past twelve January’s combined (344).
“Chief Garcia is a phenomenal agent … If he’s asking for help, we do know that we’ve got a problem up there,” Chris Clem, the former patrol chief for the Yuma sector in Arizona, told Fox News. Clem lamented that the northern U.S. border is often overlooked, given how its illegal crossing totals pale in comparison to the “astronomical” crossing totals seen at the southern border.
Some have been quick to accurately point out that illegal aliens’ fears of a ‘crackdown’ from the Biden administration on illegal crossings in the south have pushed Mexican drug cartels and the migrants they traffic to begin crossing from the north.
The shortage of Border Patrol agents along the northern border, combined with the lack of attention typically paid to illegal immigration from Canada, has led to the perfect opportunity for Mexican cartels to funnel more migrants and narcotics into the U.S.
CPA Clem adds that he blames Canada’s Electronic Travel Authorization program for allowing migrants to travel “basically visa-free” from Mexico to Canada; “And then at that point, they’re coming in,” he said.
You can read the complete article at the New York Post.
