Who is Watching the Canadian Border?

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When discussing the ongoing Biden border crisis and the myriad problems it has caused in virtually every facet of society today, the lion’s share of the attention is typically focused on the Southern border. The reasons for that are obvious if only because of the sheer volume of illegal migrants encountered there on a daily basis, including known members of violent South American gangs. But what about the other border we share with one of our neighbors? The Canadian border is far less closely guarded and yet it is pretty much ignored when reporting on this vexing problem. As it turns out, some opportunists have noticed this as well and apparently decided that coming in through Canada is a far easier task than trying to sneak into Texas or Arizona. Now the Border Patrol is reporting that they have seen record numbers of illegals crossing into the United States from the Great White North, particularly in the northeastern quadrant. (Daily Wire)

A Border Patrol sector on the United State’s northern border with Canada recorded more illegal alien apprehensions in the 2024 fiscal year than in the last 17 years combined.

Agents in the Swanton Border Patrol sector, which covers Vermont, New Hampshire, and part of New York, recorded 19,222 illegal immigrant apprehensions in fiscal year 2024, marking a drastic uptick from previous years. The illegal migrants came from 97 different countries around the world…

Border Patrol recorded 6,925 apprehensions in the Swanton sector during fiscal year 2023, which was a drastic increase from the 1,065 in fiscal year 2022.

Those are some eye-popping figures to be sure. We’re not talking about a “slight uptick” in border encounters. The total number of illegal migrants apprehended in fiscal year 2024 was higher than the previous seventeen years combined. The major jump in encounters actually began in 2023, when slightly less than 7,000 apprehensions were recorded. For the sixteen years prior to that, the number was barely a trickle compared to what’s being seen today.

Border Patrol Agents in Swanton Sector have apprehended more than 19,222 subjects from 97 different countries since October 1, 2023, which is more than its last 17 fiscal years combined.
Report suspicious border activity in Swanton Sector: 1-800-689-3362 @USBPChief@CBP@DHSgov pic.twitter.com/BhUaYYi15B

— Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia (@USBPChiefSWB) October 2, 2024

The first thing to remember about the Canadian border is the sheer size of it. The Mexican border is roughly 1,950 miles long. Our border with Canada is more than 5,500 miles, one of the largest, single national borders in the world. Also, the Mexican border is hemmed in with either a wall, a fence, or some other form of obstruction for nearly its entire length. Border Patrol units monitor it constantly using a variety of human and technological resources. The Canadian border runs through long stretches of woodlands with there frequently being no fence at all. It is marked in places by simple markers driven into the ground.

So what can be done about this? Particularly under the “leadership” of the current administration, the answer is, unfortunately, “not much.” We can barely get these people to talk about finishing Trump’s wall, and even that is simply a bandaid on a chainsaw wound. Starting construction on a 5,500-mile wall is out of the question when we can’t even finish the wall that’s already under construction in the south. Establishing some sort of “Remain in Canada” policy isn’t going to accomplish much when most of the illegal border jumpers aren’t asking permission to cross.

The only reasonable approach would be to apply diplomatic pressure on Canada to convince them to take a more active role in ensuring border security in both directions. The Canadian government is famously lax in its stance on such things, relying instead on the friendly relationship our two countries have shared for many decades. But that’s clearly not enough. There are foreign actors involved on the Canadian side these days and they’ve learned there is money to be made from ferrying human cargo back and forth in the vicinity of a poorly guarded, open border. That is an opportunity that has clearly been too tempting for many human traffickers to ignore.

This should be a topic of very public debate as we hit the closing days of this election. Establishing border control needs to be a top priority and that must include Canada as well as Mexico. Sadly, this is one of those topics that the legacy media seeks to avoid like the plague, so I’m not getting my hopes up.