Illegal Entries into Vermont Surge in November
December 19, 2022 | Vermont
Foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. are increasingly entering through Vermont at an unprecedented rate.
In October, the Swanton Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes all of Vermont, saw a 676% increase in apprehensions of illegal foreign nationals compared to last year, according to Border Patrol data. Agents apprehended 334 people from 19 countries in October, and the “upward trend continues,” Swanton Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.
Since then, the numbers have gone up. According to preliminary data for November obtained by The Center Square from a Border Patrol agent, Swanton Sector agents apprehended 445 illegal foreign nationals and reported 313 gotaways – individuals who evaded law enforcement as they made their way into the U.S. illegally.
The preliminary data excludes Office of Field Operation data, meaning official totals are likely higher although U.S. Customs and Border Protection doesn’t make gotaway numbers public. In November, agents reported a record more than 93,400 gotaways who illegally entered through the southern border.
Garcia this week described a successful apprehension of five Mexicans hiding in the brush near the U.S./Canada border in Troy, Vermont. Agents were assisted by a BP canine named Kora who tracked them down. After performing a records check, agents discovered that one of them had been previously removed from the U.S. twice in 2016 and was caught illegally entering through Vermont this time.
A few days earlier, agents rescued a disoriented family from Mexico in Vermont and a Haitian in northeastern New York. Garcia put out a warning on social media, saying, “Reminder: crossing the border illegally is not only a crime, it’s dangerous.”
On Dec. 2, BP agents, assisted by a local resident, rescued a Mexican family with small children in Churubusco, New York, who were disoriented due to weather-related trauma as they illegally crossed into the U.S. from Canada…. (Excerpt from The Center Square and The Virginia Star)
