The North is the new South

When talking about "border crisis," the mind is filled with images of the border with Mexico and caravans of illegal migrants trying to enter the country. However, the situation in the areas bordering Canada, numerical differences aside, is also particularly serious. Border Patrol chiefs in these sectors have claimed that encounters with illegal immigrants have skyrocketed by 600% since Biden came to power. Not only that, an overwhelming majority of arrests of people on the terrorist watchlist occur here.

When Biden took office in January 2021, the number of people trying to gain irregular access through Canada was 2,660, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics. During the first few months, these figures remained between 997 and 1,881 until June of that year. From then on, arrivals never dropped below 3,000, and the upward spiral began.

Record arrivals each month during fiscal year 2024

Fiscal year 2021 closed with 27,180 illegal immigrants apprehended. Just one year later, the figure soared to 109,535, an increase of more than 300% in just 12 months. In 2023, it grew by another 80,000 people, to 189,402 including the (so far) record number of arrivals in one month: 19,834 in August. So far in fiscal year 2024, there have been 127,259 encounters through May. That is more than in all of 2022. Bearing in mind that the summer months are when there is most movement in the area, it is foreseeable that the year will end up setting a new record.

Since November, every month of this fiscal year has set a new record in the monthly number of apprehensions in these sectors. In contrast to the southern border, where arrivals, despite still being high, have entered a point of slight decline with respect to 2023, in the north the numbers continue to worsen despite promises from the Biden administration.

198 of 225 arrest of terrorist suspects apprehended at the northern border in 2024

While the overall numbers are alarming, perhaps of most concern is the kind of people that are choosing this route, much more complicated because of the terrain and weather conditions than in the south. A look at apprehensions of people suspected of terrorism makes this point clear. In 2023, 484 of the 564 arrests of terror suspects occurred at ports of entry in the north. So far in 2024, the proportion is similar: 198 of the 225 recorded through May.

In addition, agents deployed in these sectors indicate that it is increasingly common to find criminal gang members among those apprehended, recognizable thanks to their tattoos. Border Patrol members stationed in the north lament that their situation is much more precarious than that of their colleagues in the south, since the resources allocated are notably less.

A bill for the northern border

Just this week, Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to ensure security on the northern border. The text seeks to ensure "enhanced oversight and accountability from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)."

"Our northern border, the world’s longest unsecured border, poses a major threat to our national security, with hundreds of thousands of unidentified individuals streaming into our communities every year. ... The Biden Administration’s neglect has left us completely vulnerable —that’s why I introduced the Northern Border Security Enhancement and Review Act to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable and ensure they report to Congress," he said.