The overlooked threat: America’s northern border
Illegal crossings at our nation’s southern border have nearly come to a halt since President Trump was sworn in for his second term. But while attention and resources are spent securing the U.S.-Mexico border, our northern border with Canada remains largely overlooked. Human smugglers are already taking extreme advantage of this.
The vast span of undefended land could easily become the next hotspot for illegal immigration into the U.S. The Trump administration must devise and implement a plan now to secure the U.S.-Canada border.
Border patrol agents encountered about 8,000 illegal immigrants crossing the southern border in February, which was the lowest figure in at least 25 years. For reference, during the Biden administration, border agents would often encounter more than 8,000 illegal immigrants in a single day. But as illegal crossings plummet at the southern border, they may be poised to skyrocket at the northern border.
The U.S.-Canada frontier is the largest land border in the world. Much of this border is remote, and unguarded, and the sectors in the east are a relatively short drive from several major airports in Canada. Those looking to travel to the U.S. illegally and human smugglers appear to have caught on.
Last year in Canada’s Swanton Sector — an enormous 24,000 square mile terrain that incorporates the borders of eastern New York and the entirety of Vermont and New Hampshire — 19,000 illegal crossers were apprehended by U.S. border agents, more than the last 17 years combined. For reference, in 2021, agents only apprehended 365 illegal crossers in the sector. Border officials, who seized nearly 50 pounds of fentanyl at the northern border in 2024, warn that some smugglers carry dangerous weapons. At the same time, human smuggling runs rampant. In New York’s Northern District federal courts, 55 percent of cases over the last two years were immigration-related. This includes 1,300 active immigrant smuggling cases.
People flew to Canada from 85 countries last year — including from Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq and Syria — then made the drive south to enter the U.S. illegally in the Swanton Sector. That same year, 358 known or suspected terrorists were caught trying to enter the U.S. from Canada. And far from the media’s conjured images of women and children, many of crossers at the northern border are men. In Maine, which has also seen a significant increase of illegal crossers at its more than 600-mile border with Canada, more than 97 percent of illegal crossers encountered in 2024 were single adult males.
For human smugglers, business has been booming. Many Canadian “coyotes” brazenly use TikTok to advertise their smuggling services for as much as $5,000. The posts typically urge would-be migrants to send them a direct message for more details. Most of the smugglers leave from Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver on the West Coast. To the Swanton Sector New York border, the trip includes a mere two-hour car ride and 25-minute walk through the woods.
Some of the smugglers’ TikTok accounts even include customer reviews, as though smuggling were a legitimate business. And as quickly as the border-crossing accounts are removed from the social media platform, new ones pop up.
The explosion of illegal drug and human smuggling along the northern border is already wreaking havoc on communities. Some residents in rural New England who live near the border recount experiences similar, albeit on a smaller scale, to those living on the Texas-Mexico border. Some described illegal migrants from Canada trespassing in their backyards “at all hours of the day” last year. Residents find trash, clothing and tire ruts all over their property. Border patrol told locals not to interfere because the smugglers or migrants may have weapons.
Meanwhile, some impacts of the crisis are being felt far from the border. Americans continue to die at records numbers from fentanyl overdoses as drugs pour in from the north. And increased illegal immigration puts a strain on hospitals, schools and housing markets in America’s northern cities.
There are several reasons for the surge at the northern border. In 2019, Canada waived visa requirements for many countries, including Mexico. The change made it easier for people from around the world to get into the U.S. illegally via Canada, but it still doesn’t fully explain the uptick. In February 2024, Canada reinstated some of its visa requirements and the illegal crossings continued to escalate anyway.
Perhaps the most significant reason for the increase is simply that potential illegal migrants around the world increasingly realize that if they can fly into Canada, the trip to the U.S. is shorter and easier than it would be over the southern border. Rather than walk for days through blazing heat, and finding a (likely treacherous) way to cross the Rio Grande, migrants crossing the northern border can simply book a comfy flight to the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport then take a short drive south into the U.S. Plus, there are significantly fewer agents working the northern sectors, so the chances of getting caught are lower.
Since Trump’s inauguration, brutal winter temperatures have swept the northern U.S., especially near the East Coast. The frigid weather has likely suppressed northern illegal crossing numbers for now. But spring is around the corner, and with warm weather on its way the Trump administration must immediately roll out a robust plan to prevent the catastrophe at the southern border from being recreated to the north.
The security of our country, and the success of Trump’s second term, may depend on it.
Kristin Tate is a political writer based in Boston and the author of three books, the most recent of which is titled “The Liberal Invasion of Red State America.” She is an on-air contributor for Sky News and a columnist for The Boston Herald.
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