The Border Patrol is begging agents to come work up north after an almost 850% increase of illegal migrants, mostly from Mexico, who have sneaked into the United States from Canada, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.
Swanton's Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia wrote in a memo that a large amount of help is urgently required to control the "strain caused by the surge" of "primarily Mexican migrants with no legal documents" and that a "quick turnaround" of agents from the already overwhelmed southern border is needed to volunteer up north for at least a month.
The Swanton Sector is in Vermont and also covers parts of upstate New York and New Hampshire.
The memo, which was obtained this week by Fox News, also stated that "due to the increased numbers, stations are task saturated with processing large groups, which has contributed" to the surge in the numbers of illegal crossings.
The urgent plea for help follows the Swanton sector recently reporting that crossings at the U.S.-Canada border are running at "historic" levels, with the sector detecting more illegal crossings last month than in the previous 12 Januarys combined despite the very harsh weather conditions, according to the Washington Times.
The Swanton Sector reported that the current fiscal year, which started in October, "demonstrates an approximate 846% increase in encounters and apprehensions compared to the same period" in the previous year, the Post reported.
In addition, the first four months of the current fiscal year have had more encounters at the border than the entire previous two years combined.
In addition to the difficulty of dealing with the increased number of migrants, the sharply increased illegal crossings boosts legitimate fears of cartels defying the law by bringing in drugs.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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