Human smuggling cartels have established sophisticated operations to bring migrants into the United States through the open border with Canada, as per a recent report by the New York Post.
While much attention focuses on migrant crossings along the southern border with Mexico, cartels are guiding migrants arriving by air in Canada into the U.S. over stretches of the border that lack monitoring and barriers. Residents of border communities have expressed concerns about the scale of these operations, the Post reported.
Chris Feeley, a resident of Swanton, Vermont, located near the international border with Canada, recounted an encounter with the Border Patrol: “The Border Patrol actually told us, ‘You guys might want to put a pistol in your backpack’ because nine out of 10 of them are just here for a better life, but there’s that one guy that’s got a rap sheet.”
The number of foreign nationals entering the United States illegally over the northern border surged by 240% in 2023 compared to 2022, totaling 12,200, the Post revealed. About 70% of these crossings occurred in the Swanton Sector, a 295-mile border stretch north of the town.
Residents reported spotting individuals of Hispanic and Latino descent walking through forested areas around Swanton, holding mobile phones, suggesting they were following a route to enter the country on foot. They were later picked up by vehicles with non-Vermont license plates, which transported them further inland.
Kaitlynn Pease, a resident of Alburgh, Vermont, described the vehicles: “Once you see the New Jersey plates, you know they’re a getaway car. Recently, New Jersey and Massachusetts are the big ones coming to pick up the migrants.”
The Jolly Quick Stop gas station has become a rendezvous point for migrant encounters, according to the Post. Smugglers have also developed tactics to evade Border Patrol, using rental vehicles and employing scouts to identify patrol locations.
Louis, a resident of Highgate Center, Vermont, explained the strategy: “They almost always have rental vehicles in case they get caught, so they don’t get their personal cars seized…They usually have two cars. They drive by to scope out the area to see where Border Patrol are.”
Despite the Safe Third Country Agreement between the United States and Canada, requiring asylum seekers to apply in the first country they arrive in, many migrants manage to evade arrest after crossing the Swanton Sector. “Border Patrol’s not usually around,” Pease observed.
The U.S. Border Patrol did not immediately respond to requests for comment, as reported by the Post.
