US-Canadian Border Faces More Illegals Than the Last 10 Years Combined

Hundreds of illegal immigrants line up outside of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on June 6, 2023. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

A key section of the U.S. northeastern border with Canada has seen a surge in illegal alien crossings this year.

More illegals have been caught crossing into the United States from Canada in the last 11 months alone than in the entire previous decade, a top Border Patrol official announced this week.

“Over 6,100 apprehensions from 76 different countries in just 11 months, surpassing the last 10 years combined,” Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sept. 6.

“Swanton Sector Agents are resolute and determined to hold the line across our 295 miles of border in northeastern New York, Vermont & New Hampshire.”

Chief Garcia’s post included photos showing groups of illegals moving through the woods with their luggage under the cover of darkness.

Border Agents Overwhelmed With Illegal Alien Surge

This much overlooked sector saw just over 1,000 Border Patrol apprehensions in all of fiscal year 2022, compared to only 365 in 2021.

The U.S.-Canada border as a whole, had dealt with 7,633 apprehensions through the end of July this fiscal year, a jump from the 2,238 for all of FY 2022 and the 916 in FY 2021.

Overall, the amount of illegals crossing from the north are dwarfed by the enormous numbers at the southern border, who are typically arriving at more than 200,000 a month.

It is still unclear how many illegals have been apprehended crossing in other sectors of the northern border this year.

However, the rise in numbers up north shows a growing a problem extending far beyond the southern border with Mexico, where 91,000 people were apprehended last month.

The entire U.S. border is 5,525 miles long in total, with 115 ports of entry.

The sudden surge up north has caused considerable strain for the understaffed border agents in the region.

Chief Garcia called for more assistance back in February and warned that his agents were facing “strain caused by the surge” of illegals, particularly from Mexico, according to a memo obtained by Fox News.

He requested immediate reinforcements from the already burdened southern border, citing a nearly 850 percent increase in illegals in his sector since October 2022.

“Due to the increased numbers, stations are task saturated with processing large groups, which has contributed to got away events, pedestrian and vehicle incursions,” said the border official.

Illegal Migrant Burden Becomes a Bipartisan Issue

Meanwhile, Republicans and some Democrats are increasingly critical of the White House over the rising numbers of illegal crossings entering the country.

In March, the Biden administration announced a new border deal with Canada, which specified that any persons who attempted to cross into either country illegally without authorization would be returned.

President Joe Biden said at a press conference in June, “We know that safe, orderly, and legal migration is good for all our economies, but we need to halt the dangerous and unlawful ways people are migrating and the dangerous ways.”

“Unlawful migration is not acceptable, and we'll secure our borders, including through innovative, coordinated actions with our regional partners,” he said.

The deal also updated the 2004 Safe Third County Agreement, which did not originally deal with illegal immigration, but it has failed to deter illegal border crossers up north.

Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte of Arizona, who is now a New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate, posted on X that “it is clear that we have a serious problem unfolding along our northern border—and the Biden administration is sitting on their hands while dangerous criminals and drugs flow into our state.”

House members from districts along the northern border, like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), are blaming the policies of the Biden administration and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for permitting the invasion.

She called on Democrats to approve the House GOP border security bill passed earlier this year.

“Enough is enough. It is time for Joe Biden to secure our Southern and Northern Border and the quickest way to do that is for [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.] to pass and Biden to sign into law House Republican’s Secure the Border Act, which is the strongest border security bill in history and would put an end to the Biden border crisis,” said the congresswoman.

Even Democrat New York Mayor Eric Adams complained this week about the thousands of migrants being bussed into the city from the border and accused the Biden administration of providing “no support” for the crisis.

The arrival of illegals from border states is putting financial pressure on sanctuary cities across the country.

“I’m gonna tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I didn’t see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this,” Mr. Adams told at a town hall in New York City on Sept. 6.

According to Mr. Adams, almost 110,000 illegals have arrived in New York City since spring 2022 and he estimates the cost of housing them to be more than $12 billion over three years.

He even tried offering migrants free bus rides to Canada but it failed when many were turned away at the border or returned after the apparent lack of opportunities there.

“The Mayor is right: progressive policies on immigration are devastating New York City the way progressive policies on crime have devastated San Francisco. Joe Biden is utterly derelict in his duty to secure our borders and it’s disgraceful that his administration continues to gaslight Americans by insisting that the border is secure,” David Laska, spokesman for the NY State GOP, told The Epoch Times.

Update: This article has been updated to include comment from the NY State GOP.