Statistics show illegal US-Canada border crossings climbing

MONTPELIER, Vt. – New statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show the number of people apprehended along the U.S. border with Canada is continuing to climb.

Statistics show 4,316 people were apprehended along the border last year, up from 3,027 in 2017 and 2,283 in 2016.

Of the 2018 total, 963 people, or about 22 per cent, were apprehended after illegally crossing the border from Canada.

Others were apprehended by border agents inside the United States without authorities knowing how the individuals entered the country.

The Border Patrol sector that includes much of upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire accounted for more than half of the people who entered illegally from Canada.

The northern border numbers are tiny compared to the southern border where just under 400,000 individuals were apprehended last year.