U.S. Customs and Border Protection has detailed 25 extra agents to a busy section of the northern border, effective Monday, as the number of migrants, particularly those from Mexico, crossing into the U.S. from Canada continues to rise, according to a CBP spokesperson.
At least some of those agents temporarily reassigned to the northern border were formerly stationed on the southern border, according to a source familiar with the move.
NBC News previously reported on the rise in Mexicans crossing into the U.S. from Canada after legally arriving in Canada by air.
Though the Mexican border remains a far busier sector for crossings by undocumented migrants, the recent surge at the Canadian border is garnering more attention inside the agency and requiring additional resources, the source said.
A CBP spokesperson said the agency began temporarily deploying Border Patrol agents from sectors “not experiencing an influx” to the Swanton Sector of the U.S.-Canadian border on Monday “due to migration fluctuations along the Northern Border.”
“While the apprehension numbers are small compared to other areas with irregular migration flows, Swanton Sector apprehensions constitute a large change in this area,” a CBP spokesperson said. “The deployed team will serve as a force multiplier in the region and assist to deter and disrupt human smuggling activities being conducted in the Swanton Sector area of responsibility.”
The Swanton Sector, which includes sections of Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, experienced an 846 percent increase in apprehensions from October 2022 through this January, compared with the same period a year prior. In January, the latest month for which data is available, 367 migrants were stopped in the sector, compared to just 24 in January 2022.
Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said he is concerned about the welfare of migrants trying to cross the frigid terrain.
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