Migrant Arrests at Northern Border Sector Up 197 Percent over Record-Shattering FY23

 The record-shattering surge of migrant crossings in the Swanton Sector continues with the apprehension of more than 2,700 migrants in July. The sector of the U.S.-Canada Border experienced an increase of nearly 200 percent from the same record-setting period one year earlier.

According to the CBP Nationwide Encounters report, during the first ten months of Fiscal Year 24, which began in October 2023, Swanton Sector agents apprehended 15,612 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Canada into Northeastern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. This is up 197 percent from the 5,257 arrested during the same period in FY23.

During the last three months, agents apprehended nearly 30 percent more migrants than during the entire previous fiscal year.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Nationwide Encounters Report

Border Patrol officials previously told Breitbart Texas that most migrants crossing from Canada into the Swanton Sector are not looking to surrender. Rather, agents must track down and rely on community tips to find the migrants attempting to sneak into the U.S. interior.

In June, Chief Garcia reported that agents apprehended migrants from 85 different countries this fiscal year, Breitbart Texas reported.

The list of nations includes migrants from Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liberia, Lithuania, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Romania, Russia. Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, Togo, Turkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

In addition to the migrants being smuggled into the U.S., Swanton Sector agents also arrested a Chinese citizen who allegedly attempted to smuggle 28 eastern box turtles out of the U.S.

Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont accused Wan Yee Ng, a 41-year-old Chinese national living in Canada, of loading a duffle bag into an inflatable kayak. Border Patrol agents arrested the Chinese woman on the Vermont bank of Lake Wallace as her husband, and another man set out from the Canadian bank in an inflatable watercraft.

Officials found 29 eastern box turtles individually wrapped in socks inside the duffle bag. Prosecutors stated that the colorful turtles are “especially prized” animals in the foreign pet trade, especially in China.