Giant “SURGE” Spotted – Is There A Connection?

(USNewsMag.com) – According to a report released Monday, February 13th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection saw a massive increase in illegal border crossers in the Swanton Sector of the border between Canada and the United States.

The Swanton Sector spans 24,000 square miles of U.S. land which covers all of Vermont, and portions of New York and New Hampshire. The 295 miles of international border in the sector are adjacent to Ontario and Quebec. According to the CBP website, the sector spans the first land boundary area east of the Great Lakes.

Border Patrol agents reported 367 incidents of encounters or apprehensions in the first month of 2023. In the previous 12 years combined, the sector had only reported 344. Encounters had been increasing in the area for 7 months straight. From October 2022 through January 2023, the Swanton Sector experienced an 846% increase in incidents with illegal border crossers despite brutal winter conditions.

Despite temperatures as low as -4 degrees Fahrenheit, Agents have reportedly encountered family groups with young children and infants attempting to illegally cross the border. There have been multiple occasions where search-and-rescue operations were required to save the lives of people who had illegally crossed and found themselves in life-threatening situations.

The Chief Patrol Agent for the Swanton Sector, Robert N. Garcia, stressed how dangerous attempting to cross the border in his sector can be, especially in the winter months due to the hostile weather conditions. In Vermont, winter weather often sets in around the end of November and can last into the beginning of April.

Brandon Judd, the President of the National Border Patrol Council indicated that the crisis at the Southern Border has required that CBP reallocate resources which has left other areas “wide open.” He told the Daily Caller News Foundation that despite the widespread belief that illegal crossings are an issue only at the southwestern border, the surge of apprehensions and encounters is a problem in the North as well.