Apprehensions Up 42% on Northern Border as Mexicans, Central Americans Try to Enter US from Canada

The overwhelming surge of illegal immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border is drawing agents away from the northern border, where apprehensions are also increasing significantly.

Sault Ste. Marie Border Patrol Agent in Charge Henry Laxdal told WJFW apprehensions in the Detroit sector increased 42 percent between 2017 and 2018, though the numbers pale in comparison to the southern border crisis.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows a total of 4,316 apprehensions across the entire northern border in 2018, and 1,930 in the Detroit sector, the busiest. For 2017, the total was 3,027, with 1,070 in the Detroit sector.

Of those apprehended on the northern border last year, 2,245 were Mexican, 445 were Guatemalan, 244 were Hondurans, 196 were from Romania, 182 were from India, 172 were Canadian, and 127 were from El Salvador. A dozen or more also came from Brazil, China, Columbia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Peru, Ukraine and Venezuela, according to the data.

Despite the rising numbers, Laxdal told WJFW agent transfers to the U.S.-Mexico border means there’s now just 60 agents working to cover hundreds of miles of open border in his sector, including a lot of areas where folks can simply swim or boat a short distance to cross.

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“What has gone up is our ability to find and locate individuals who have crossed illegally prior to, and our ability to find them now,” he said.

It’s an entirely different situation along the U.S.-Mexico border, where agents are apprehending more than 1,000 illegal immigrants per day in some sectors. In fiscal year 2018, a total of 396,579 illegal immigrants were arrested attempting to cross the southwest border. In total, 521,090 illegal immigrants were apprehended or turned themselves in last year.

That figure now stands at 460,294 for fiscal year 2019, with five months still left to go.