Border Patrol agents along the Canadian border are well on track to surpass the record-high number of illegal immigrant arrests made last year.
The numbers are of particular concern given that these higher-than-average monthly arrests recently occurred during the winter months, when temperatures are often below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, presenting major safety challenges to immigrants and law enforcement.
The winter uptick could spell bigger trouble as the temperatures warm up into spring and summer and make it more practical to cross.
In fiscal 2023, which ran from October 2022 through September 2023, Border Patrol agents apprehended 10,021 people who walked into the country between ports of entry where vehicles and pedestrians are inspected, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
In the first five months of fiscal 2024, federal agents have caught 6,039 people entering without authorization. The figure puts Border Patrol on track to surpass 14,000 arrests by the end of the year, more than last year’s record.
Border Patrol data are only publicly available dating back to 2007. Over the past 17 years, arrests across the northern border have ranged from 2,200 to 7,900 per year, according to CBP statistics.
Northern Border Security Caucus co-Chairmen Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Ryan Zinke (R-MT), House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and members from primarily northern border states were among 22 lawmakers who sent the Biden administration a letter this week flagging the new trend for the Department of Homeland Security and asking about plans to address it.
Lawmakers blamed President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the increase in arrests, which they described as “symptomatic of your broader failure to secure the border.”
“Dangerous individuals continue to take advantage of the vast Northern Border, which is the longest land border between two countries in the world, and relatively unguarded by natural barriers,” the lawmakers wrote.
“In FY 2024 alone, Border Patrol agents are on track to apprehend a record number of illegal immigrants at the Northern border,” the letter stated. “These statistics are yet another example of how the Biden administration is downplaying the serious nature of this orchestrated border crisis. Every state has now become a border state under your leadership — or lack thereof.”
Of the eight regions that the Border Patrol breaks the U.S.-Canada border down by, the Swanton Sector has experienced the most illegal crossing attempts by far.
The Swanton Sector includes all of the New Hampshire and Vermont borders, as well as a portion of upstate New York’s eastern side. Agents in the Swanton Sector apprehended two-thirds, or just over 4,000, of the total 6,000 immigrants arrested in 2024 — roughly double the arrests in 2023.
But human smuggling efforts at the border are not the lawmakers’ sole concern.
“While the significant increase in illegal immigration should raise serious concerns, the Northern Border has also seen a dangerous spike in drug smuggling, particularly fentanyl and other synthetic opioids,” the lawmakers wrote. “CBP has seized nearly double the amount of fentanyl — the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45 — in the first four months of FY 2024 than it did throughout the entirety of FY23 at the Northern Border.”
CBP’s Air and Marine Operations agents on the northern border have intercepted 1,212 pounds of fentanyl, which is enough to kill 270 million people, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“While the Southwest Border has been overrun with drug smugglers, we cannot allow another avenue for deadly, illegal drugs into our country and our communities,” the letter reads.
The 22 House Republicans called for the Biden administration to explain its plan to prevent further increases in illegal immigration at the northern border, how it will better detect and interdict drugs, what it provides to federal law enforcement employees who need mental health support, and how the United States might be able to work with Canadian officials. They requested answers be provided by late April.
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Drug interdictions and illegal immigration on the northern border still pale in comparison to the U.S.-Mexico border, where, since the start of 2024, Border Patrol agents have arrested 894,000 illegal immigrants and CBP’s Office of Field Operations officers have thwarted the smuggling of 8,000 pounds of fentanyl through ports of entry.
Other lawmakers who signed on to the letter included Reps. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Bob Latta (R-OH), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Andy Barr (R-KY), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), and Pete Sessions (R-TX).
