SEATTLE - Characterized for not having the same level of traffic as its counterpart in the south, the northern border of the United States has nevertheless seen a significant increase in unauthorized crossings across the usually quiet Canadian border in the past 18 months.
To be more specific, Indian migrants are mostly responsible for the surge of illegal crossings in the region.
So far this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have had nearly 20,000 encounters with migrants between ports of entry on the U.S.-Canada border, an increase of 95% from last year. Out of the nearly 20,000 encounters, Indian nationals account for more than 11,000 of them, responsible for nearly 60% of the total encounters.
Although most migrants coming to the United States might be moving for similar reasons, Pablo Bose, director of the Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont, says most Indians are looking for better economic opportunities as well as reuniting with their families.
"For some of the Indian families (the motivation) has definitely been economic opportunity, reunification with family," Bose says.
But before they cross into the United States, Indian migrants try to look for work in Canada. Bose says part of the reason so many Indians come to the U.S. through Canada first is because of the country's favorable immigration policies. Up to very recently, migrants in Canada who were on a visitor's visa were able apply for a temporary work permit there.
That policy changed in late August, which could represent a further increase in encounters with Indian migrants at the northern border. In June, CBP reported more than 2,800 encounters with Indian nationals along the northern border, an all-time high.
Agents in the Swanton Sector are the busiest of them all. The 300-mile stretch that runs through rural eastern New York, Vermont and New Hampshire recorded almost 7,000 encounters on the northern border during 2023 fiscal year, or about two-thirds of all apprehensions.
So far during 2024 fiscal year, 80% of all illegal crossings in the northern border have taken place in the Swanton Sector, according to CBP data.
Bose says the wide range of options in terms of industries is what is driving Indian nationals to leave Canada for cities in the United States:
"We have a significant swathe of Indians who end up broadly speaking in the services and hospitality industries, especially in larger cities like New York and Chicago where there's an ability to disappear into the immigrant workforce."
But despite Indian nationals dominating most of the illegal crossings in the northern border, people from all types of backgrounds and nationalities are using the cold, wooden terrains in the northern border to cross into the U.S. After Indians, Latinos are the biggest group using the northern border.
So far this year, there have been more than 4,000 encounters of people from Latin American countries along the U.S.-Canada border.
Despite the increase in illegal crossings along the northern border, Brian Lorimor, one of the Swanton Sector's patrol agents, said there is a false perception that it is safer to cross into the U.S. from Canada than from Mexico.
"Extreme weather, extreme temperatures, highs and lows, you can easily get dehydrated, and there are some very rural, remote areas out here," he said.
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