United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are encountering a record number of illegal entrants at the northern border with Canada. .The Foreign Desk reported Tuesday some of these illegal immigrants are on the terror watchlist, sparking outcry from Republicans and local officials after more than 150,000 of them have attempted to enter the US through the Canadian border so far this fiscal year. .The latest US government data said the number of immigrants who have entered through Canada this fiscal year is more than 4.6 times higher than that from 2020. .Agents recorded 375 encounters at the Canadian border with people on the Terrorist Screening Dataset so far in 2023. The Mexican border, which sees more illegal immigrants, has seen 216 watchlist encounters this year. .Almost half of all 2023 northern encounters occurred on New York’s border, despite it making up about 8% of the land connecting Canada. .Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21) blamed US President Joe Biden and New York Governor Kathy Hochul for the crisis. .“Joe Biden’s far left open border policies have caused our northern border to see an unprecedented and historic surge in illegal immigration and Kathy Hochul’s ‘sanctuary state’ policies have further incentivized this dangerous surge,” said Stefanik. .“Enough is enough.”.The Canadian government has acknowledged it is experiencing an influx of people crossing its border between ports of entry. .Canadian officials have recorded 30,326 illegal border crossings this year — 3.7 times more than it saw at this point in 2022. .The US and Canada have been attempting to tackle this increase in crossings by reaching a deal in March, saying people without either country's citizenship who are caught within 14 days would be sent back in either direction. .The US State Department said in its latest counterterrorism report for Mexico in 2021 the southern border “remains vulnerable to terrorist transit, but to date there have been no confirmed cases of a successful terrorist attack on US soil by a terrorist who gained entry to the United States through Mexico.”.While perceived as likely, the State Department found the US’s national terrorism threat remained at medium through 2021, which meant a violent attack could occur. It did not comment on terrorists gaining entry to the US through Canada. .“Potential terror threats are primarily from homegrown violent extremists in Canada who are not included in the US Government’s consolidated terrorist watch list and could therefore enter the United States legally at Northern Border ports of entry without suspicion,” said the US Department of Homeland Security. .US authorities said in January CBP agents in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire apprehended more people illegally entering the US from Canada in the past three months than in the previous two years combined. .READ MORE: Illegal immigrants now entering US from Canada.CBP Sector Chief Robert Garcia said these states saw a 743% increase in apprehensions and encounters between October and December compared to the same period in 2021. .While the numbers do not compare to the southern border, they are a record.
