'Extremely dangerous': Spike in illegal crossings at Canada-Vermont border has feds sounding alarm

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Migrants passing into the U.S. by illegal means via Swanton, Vermont have escalated massively in recent months.

Between October and January, apprehensions and encounters at the Canadian border have jumped nearly 850% compared to the same four months a year ago, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Swanton sector.

During the month of January there were 367 encounters, more than the past 12 years of January totals combined, said Ryan Brissette in a press release for the Swanton border patrol.

The number of border patrol encounters in Swanton started to climb in July 2022. During the seven-month window through January 2023, there have been 2,070 instances of illegal crossings. In that same period, there were 258 the year prior and 225 the year before that.

Northern and Southern borders see uptick in rescues

The uptick is causing problems for officials, especially considering dangerously cold temperatures that have put border crossers' and border control agents' lives at risk. Brissette noted -4 degree temperatures and "life-saving aid" that was provided during encounters in Newport, Vermont, and Burke, New York.

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"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," Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert N. Garcia said in a press release.

The southern border has also seen an increase in rescues, as the U.S. places a renewed emphasis on rescuing migrants and historically high numbers of immigrants seek asylum at U.S. borders.

The numbers at the southern border, the nation's busiest corridor, show a sharp increase in border rescues, according to data released this month from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency overseeing Border Patrol:

• 5,336 migrants rescued at southern border in fiscal year 2020.

• 12,857 migrants rescued at southern border in fiscal year 2021.

• 22,014 migrants rescued at southern border in fiscal year 2022, which ended in September.

In fiscal 2021, agents at the southern border tallied 568 migrant deaths, the highest ever recorded.

Most of the deaths (219) were attributed to "environmental exposure-heat" as people trek through blazing terrain in Arizona and Texas. Agents also counted 86 deaths as "water-related" as migrants try to cross canals or the swift-moving Rio Grande, which divides the U.S. and Mexico.

Immigration advocates and experts believe the border death toll is much higher, and the federal system for death data long failed to include many border deaths.

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Who is crossing the Vermont-Canadian border

There are no clear-cut answers as to why people are crossing as the circumstances differ for each person or group, said Steven Bansbach, a public affairs officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Many are being dropped off near the border by car and then proceeding across land on foot, he said.

Among the border crossers are family groups that include infants and children who are particularly vulnerable to the cold. Bansbach said many are crossing at night while cold and sleep deprived, all of which can be disorienting.

Border patrol usually detains, arrests and sends those apprehended back to where they came from, according to Bansbach.

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Looking at the countries of origin of encounters involving the border patrol in Swanton, a vast majority are from Mexico. Among the 1,513 encounters from October through January, 945 originated from Mexico.

"They may be trying to find a path of least resistance to enter into the U.S.," Bansbach surmised. "And they may know there's a conundrum at the southwest border and so they may find that the northern border they may sneak across to have a better advantage."

The U.S.'s southern border has been a point of contention, from border walls, to the separation of children and parents, to immigrants being caught up in political brinkmanship being shipped from southern states to northern ones, in some cases dropped off on a political opponent's doorstep.

Follow April Barton at on Twitter @aprildbarton

Contributing: Rick Jervis, USA Today

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: U.S. Border Patrol in VT sees winter increase in illegal crossings