Border Patrol leadership is calling for agents to volunteers to shift their deployment to the northern border as one overwhelmed sector of the often-overlooked border has seen a massive surge in illegal crossings -- with an enormous 846% increase this fiscal year.
In an internal email, obtained by Fox News, Border Patrol assistant chief Juan Garcia writes to sector chiefs requesting help in the Swanton Sector, which includes Vermont and parts of New York and New Hampshire.
In the email, Garcia says that the increase is attributable primarily to "Mexican migrants with no legal documents" entering the U.S. from Canada.
"Due to the increased numbers, stations are task saturated with processing large groups, which has contributed to gotaway events, pedestrian and vehicle incursions," he writes.
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"Due to the strain caused by this surge, USBP HQ is seeking volunteers from the Northern and Southern Border Sectors to temporarily detail additional personnel to [Swanton Sector] to increase detention and custody operations, transportation, and flight line security operations."
According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, the sector is experiencing an 846% increase in illegal crossings compared to the same time last fiscal year. January’s apprehensions in the sector (367) were more than the previous 12 Januarys combined. So far this fiscal year, which began in October, there have been 1,513 crossings. That’s compared to the 1,065 encountered in the sector for the entirety of FY 2022.
While the numbers are relatively small compared to the historic numbers that have been hitting sectors at the southern border, where there were more than 156,000 encounters in January alone, the numbers have left officials in the northern sector overwhelmed.
The request seeks volunteers to travel on March 1 and return in April.
Garcia has previously posted images of footprints in the snow, as well as migrants crossing the border, where temperatures often drop below freezing. Last week, he said agents had apprehended 115 illegal immigrants from 12 countries.
"Unfortunately, perilous weather has done nothing to deter this traffic. Don’t risk it!" he said.
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CBP also highlighted recent incidents of encounters with family groups, including one in which agents encountered a family with an 8-month-old and two-year-old in Newport, Vt., during which the temperature was minus 4 degrees.
"As we progress deeper into winter and continue to address the ongoing pace of illicit cross-border traffic, the level of concern for the lives and welfare of our Border Patrol Agents and those we are encountering - particularly vulnerable populations - continues to climb," Garcia said in a statement this month. "It cannot be stressed enough: not only is it unlawful to circumvent legal means of entry into the United States, but it is extremely dangerous, particularly in adverse weather conditions, which our Swanton Sector has in incredible abundance," he added.
