Illegal crossings at northern U.S. border continue to skyrocket, hundreds of terror suspects arrested
BOSTON - In September, the Department of Justice charged Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a 20-year-old Pakistani citizen living in Canada, with plotting to conduct an ISIS inspired attack on a New York Jewish Center using assault rifles. Khan was arrested in Ormstown in Quebec, Canada, just 12 miles from the U.S. border.
While immigration and the border between the U.S. and Mexico was often the topic of conversation during the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the northern border has gone largely unnoticed. All, while thousands of migrants are encountered by Border Patrol in the Swanton Sector, the massive 295 miles of border terrain encompassing eastern New York, all of Vermont, and New Hampshire.
WBZ visited the Swanton Sector last March, when illegal border crossings were climbing, and Border Patrol had already arrested a record 7,000 people in fiscal year 2023.
"It was a flood we had not seen before. It was an exponential shift," said Erik Lavallee at the time. Lavallee is the Border Patrol Agent in Charge of the Beecher Falls Station in Vermont.
19,000 people arrested in 2024
Since then, illegal crossings have continued to skyrocket with roughly 19,000 people arrested in fiscal year 2024. That is about the same amount as the last 17 years combined. Although, Customs and Border Protection notes that the Swanton Sector has seen a 52-percent reduction in encounters since the height of crossings in June.
In October, we spoke with Lavallee again about how human smuggling remains rampant. Authorities say Khan was planning to hire a human smuggler to cross the border.
"We have multiple identified transnational criminal organizations that are transporting people away from the border," Lavallee said.
More terror suspects at northern border
Agents continue to encounter criminal activity, from smuggled box turtles to illegal firearms to self-admitted gang members. Far more terror suspects are encountered on the northern border than to the south, although most are encountered at ports of entry.
Border Patrol data states that 358 suspects on the terror watchlist were arrested on the northern border at ports of entry in fiscal year 2024. Three suspects were encountered between ports of entry. On the southern border, a total of 155 suspects were encountered in fiscal year 2024.
"It's not the ones that we've caught, and we've been able to vet that are the concern to me. It is the individuals that we don't know about," Lavallee said.
In the spring, Border Patrol said Mexicans were the top nationality they encountered at the northern border. Border Patrol believes Mexicans were flying into Canada because the country did not require visas for them, then crossing illegally into the United States. Since then, Canada has stopped that policy and fewer Mexicans are crossing. Now, Border Patrol is seeing a new trend, more individuals from India and East Asia.
"Indian nationals do require a visa to enter Canada but there was apparently a decision by the government to not be as strict in processing the visa applications. For example, no longer asking for proof that the visitor will be returning to their country," said Michael Barutciski, a professor of international affairs at York University in Toronto. "It's actually quite striking that Canada's immigration minister has admitted that the security screening overseas is unreliable."
Canada's immigration policies
Now, after years of nearly uncapped immigration to Canada, Barutciski says the country has a adopted a slew of policies to crack down by announcing caps on temporary foreign workers and international students. The government also decided to stop allowing immigrants to apply for work permits from inside the country.
Barutciski says these policies could drive more immigrants to the U.S.
"Many will end up considering illegal options. Either they're staying undocumented in Canada or they're crossing the border illegally into the U.S.," Barutciski said.
Lavallee says he and his agents do not feel overwhelmed, but they are too familiar with the term "gotaway," the people who evade the Border Patrol.
"It is certainly significant enough to be a concern," Lavallee said.