Due to an increase in illegal border crossings in the Swanton Sector, U.S. officials have started to fly migrants who were caught at the northern border down to Texas. At least two flights have already departed from Plattsburgh, New York, and carried a total of 82 migrants expelled under the Covid ban known as Title 42. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the migrants will receive final processing at CBP southwest border facilities. The spokesperson for CBP said that all of these individuals were recently apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the northern U.S. border, and these transfers are being done to decompress facilities and better utilize resources and personnel.
From October 1 to February 28, the number of illegal border crossings in the Swanton Sector of the U.S. border, which covers New Hampshire, Vermont, and a portion of northern New York, has surged over the past five months to almost 10 times its level during the same time period last year, according to CBP data. Border officials and local law enforcement have reported that most of the migrants crossing into the Swanton Sector are from Mexico, while the two repatriation flights recorded in March contained only one migrant, a Colombian, who was not a Mexican national.
Due to the increasing number of migrants crossing into the U.S. from Canada, local law enforcement and residents in well-traversed areas such as Clinton County, New York, have asked for more help from the federal government to deal with the migrant foot traffic. Some migrants have had to be rescued and treated for frostbite after walking through the often snow-covered forest that straddles the border. Earlier this month, CBP announced that 25 extra agents, some from the southern border, would be detailed to the Swanton Sector to help combat the surge in illegal border crossings.
