Trump is targeting illegal immigration at the U.S.-Canada border. Here's how some migrants cross there.
An upstate New York sheriff, whose county sits along the U.S.-Canada border, credits President Trump's immigration policies for a recent lull in illegal immigration, but warned that he doesn't believe the quiet will last.
Sheriff David Favro oversees Clinton County, New York, which includes about 28 miles of the northern border region the U.S. Customs and Border Protection calls the Swanton Sector. Last year, there were more illegal crossings in the Swanton Sector than in the previous 17 years combined, with more than 19,000 migrants arrested. Favro, a Democrat and six-time elected sheriff, said there's been a recent lull.
"Today, our state of mind is, 'When is something gonna happen?' That's the big concern. And that's always in the back of, I think, every law enforcement member's mind," Favro said. "When is something going to occur? When the numbers are down it gets eerily quiet and we kind of worry about quiet."
How some migrants cross the U.S.-Canada border
While the southern border saw 1.5 million illegal crossings last year, there were fewer than 24,000 illegal crossings from Canada. More than 80% of migrant apprehensions at the northern border happened in the Swanton Sector last year.
The migrants arrested last year came from 97 countries, but were mostly from India and Mexico. They cross year round, even through blizzards. In the middle of winter, authorities respond weekly to 911 calls from migrants. Six Haitians, including a 9-year-old girl, became lost in the woods and some were hospitalized with serious injuries in January. Last month, a man from Spain suffered severe frostbite.
"They're up against a lot. And the worst thing that they're up against is the freezing cold, because the temperatures, you're walking through the snow and your pants are getting wet, your boots are gonna start soaking through eventually, and they don't even realize," Favro said. "They're so desperate and so quick to try and get to where they want to be, that they don't realize frostbite is setting in. And that's one of the biggest dangers."
Favro said he will never forget the death of Ana Vazquez-Flores, a pregnant woman who died while trekking across the border in the snow in 2023. Vazquez-Flores and her husband had found a Colombian man living in Quebec who advertised smuggling services on TikTok. They'd hired him to guide Vazquez-Flores across the border.
Searching for "border excursions" on TikTok and Facebook brings up a number of ads purporting to guarantee migrants safe passage across America's 5,525 mile-long shared border with Canada. There are posts in Spanish, English and Punjabi, and reviews from clients.
60 Minutes found one smuggler, who goes by the name Javi, through his online ads, which he says TikTok recently took down. Javi said he works for the Sinaloa Cartel arranging human and drug smuggling across America's northern border.
While it's not possible to verify everything Javi said, he sent pictures of guns he says are his as proof of his cartel ties. A source in Canadian intelligence said Javi's story is consistent with the cartel's human and drug smuggling operations.
Javi said the cartel provides the customers.
"They have more people who are behind all of this looking for customers, finding them, and summoning them to certain locations," he said in Spanish.
Javi said he's part of a team of four. Some drive migrants to and from the border and plan logistics, while Javi says he guides people through the woods. Migrants pay about $3,000 each: Javi said he makes about a thousand dollars per person, while $500 goes to the cartel and the rest to the drivers. Migrants who fail to pay are held hostage until they pay, Javi said.
Some smugglers offer discounts for children. Javi said he's guided families with babies as young as three months across the border.
Will Trump's border crackdown work?
Mr. Trump has instituted tariffs on Mexico and Canada, at times linking them to the drugs and migrants coming across America's borders.
"Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem," he said in a November Truth Social post. "We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"
Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney retaliated with tariffs of his own, but the Canadian government did concede to Mr. Trump's complaints about the border and announced a nearly billion dollar plan to strengthen border security, adding more boots on the ground, helicopters and drones and a new fentanyl czar.
Professor Kelly Sundberg, who spent 15 years as an officer in the Canadian Border Services Agency and now researches border security at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said Canada does not have a border patrol like the one in the U.S. and has many fewer immigration enforcement officers.
"Clearly, if we're going to address the concerns of President Trump, let alone the concerns of many Canadians also, …we need to increase those numbers," Sundberg said.
He believes that Canada needs 4,000-5,000 officers added nationally. He also doesn't see tariffs as the answer.
"The border needs to be secured, but there's better ways of doing it than threatening your largest and longest standing partner," he said.
It's unknown exactly how many pounds of drugs cross the border into the United States. Mr. Trump claims "tremendous" amounts of fentanyl pour into the country through Canada, but last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the northern border, compared to more than 21,000 pounds confiscated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Last month Canada and the U.S., on the same day, declared the Sinaloa Cartel a terrorist organization. Javi, the smuggler, said the cartel has since had to change the way it moves drugs across the northern border, but the designation has not affected how many people they smuggle into the U.S. illegally.
"There's always going to be business. Later on, Donald Trump's time will pass, and this will continue," Javi said. "This is not going to stop."
Javi claims more border control and more checkpoints will not stop smugglers from moving people across the border.
"There's always a way. The border between Canada and the U.S. is much bigger than the one with Mexico," he said. "You can always get in."
