Washington State’s border patrol agents have reported a 575% increase in smuggling operations across the U.S.-Canada border.
Twenty-seven vehicles have been seized thus far in the 2023 fiscal year.
Throughout 2022, only 4 vehicles were seized.
“A lot of the load drivers turn out to be legal permanent residents, asylees, or just straight up illegal [aliens] that have been living here for a while,” said an official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Between October and June 2023, there have been over 900 illegal immigrant encounters in the Blaine sector.
According to the President of the National Border Patrol Council’s chapter in the Blaine, Spokane, and Havre sectors, “Blaine sector has not been immune to the recent surge of illegal immigration that has been occurring throughout the country, largely due to the failed immigration policy of the current administration. It is no surprise that with such an increase in smuggling attempts, there is a corresponding increase in vehicle seizures.”
Blaine does not have barriers preventing illegal immigration, according to a former agent. They also noted that the area has a shortage of agents, who have been sent to the southern border to provide assistance.
Reporting from The Post Millennial:
“Terrain-wise, it ranges from beaches all the way up to mountainous regions, same as the Southern Border,” the agent added. “With cities, and their publicly available areas, built close to the border for illegal aliens to blend in with pretty quickly.” According to US Customs and Border Protection data, there were over 6,400 encounters with illegal immigrants at the northern border between October 2022 and June, an increase from approximately 1,200 in all of the 2022 fiscal year.
