Border Patrol agents at the northern border again broke records in fiscal 2024, reporting the greatest number of apprehensions in U.S. history.
In fiscal 2024 (Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024), agents reported 198,929 illegal border crosser apprehensions and encounters, the greatest number in U.S. history, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
That’s after northern border apprehensions broke records every fiscal year under the Biden-Harris administration.
In fiscal 2023, 189,402 illegal border crossers were reported, the greatest number in history. That number surpassed 109,535 in fiscal 2022, which at the time was the greatest number of illegal border crossers reported at the northern border under any administration in history.
Those numbers were up from 27,180 in fiscal 2021, with 6,522 of them reported in the last three months of the Trump administration.
The most were apprehended by agents in the Swanton Sector, which includes all of Vermont, six upstate New York counties, and three New Hampshire counties.
They apprehended 19,385 foreign nationals from 97 countries who illegally entered from Canada, “smashing” last year’s record, and totaling more than the previous 17 years combined, Swanton Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.
Illegal border crossers traveled from 97 countries to make their way to the U.S.-Canada border, illegally entering a sector that spans 295 miles of international boundary with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The Swanton Sector is the first international land boundary east of the Great Lakes.
In fiscal 2023, Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents broke records by apprehending the greatest number of illegal border crossers in history of more than 6,700 foreign nationals from 76 countries, The Center Square exclusively reported.
Ten months later, that number tripled and countries of origin increased to 85, The Center Square reported. The numbers kept increasing despite claims made by the administration that the border was closed and illegal border crossings at the southwest border were less. In fiscal 2024, nearly 3 million illegal border crossers were reported nationwide, The Center Square reported.
The Center Square has reported extensively about security threats at the northern border, including the greatest number of people on the terrorist watchlist being apprehended coming from Canada than anywhere else.
More than 1,200 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) were reported attempting to enter the U.S. from Canada since fiscal 2021, accounting for nearly 64% of KSTs apprehended nationwide, according to CBP data.
Nationwide, more than 1,900 KSTs were apprehended since fiscal 2021, the highest on record. That’s up from the previous record of 1,700, The Center Square first reported.
Northern border agents apprehended the majority of KSTs after they either resided in Canada or passed through and weren’t detected or apprehended by Canadian authorities.
Illegal entries continued to surge from Canada under the Biden-Harris administration and the Canadian administration of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as both U.S. and Canadian officials expressed alarm about terrorist threats, The Center Square reported.
Of the 97 nationalities reported illegally entering at the northern border under the Biden-Harris and Trudeau administrations, several made records. They include the greatest number of illegal border crossers reported in U.S. history from Canada, from India, and from Mexico, The Center Square first reported.
The overwhelming majority apprehended nationwide, including at the northern border, are single adults, according to the data.
