A human smuggling cartel has launched a sophisticated operation to smuggle migrants into the United States across Canada's open border, according to a new report in the New York Post.
Migrants crossing the border with Mexico into the U.S. are receiving a lot of attention and alarm, with smuggling cartels attempting to coax migrants arriving in Canada by air into the U.S. across the uninhabited, unwalled border area. ing. The Washington Post reports that the scale of the operation is worrying residents of border areas. report. (Related: Exclusive: 'It's not stopping yet': The northern border is wide open and people are crossing en masse)
“In fact, the Border Patrol told us, “You guys should have pistols in your backpack.'' Nine out of 10 people came here looking for a better life, but rap. There’s one guy who has the seat,” Chris said. Feeley, who lives in Swanton, Vermont, less than 10 miles from the Canadian border, told the Post. ” [U.S. Border Patrol] The receptionist knows it's me when I call… They're like, “Oh, hey Chris, how are you doing?” So I said, “Hey, if you want to send the boys there, just walk a little closer to the camera.'' ”
Report: The border crisis along the *North* border has worsened so much that residents are taking up arms to protect themselves from ongoing smuggling operations.
It's time to build the northern border wall.
A resident of Swanton, Vermont, is armed with a pistol as the intersection becomes dangerous. pic.twitter.com/sgZBuiVetw
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 19, 2024
The number of foreign nationals who crossed the northern border into the United States illegally in 2023 increased by 240% compared to 2022, to a total of 12,200, according to the paper. Of these, 70% crossed into the Swanton area, a border area that stretches 495 miles north of town.
Residents said they saw what appeared to be a Hispanic and Latino foreign national walking through a wooded area around Swanton, holding a cell phone and acting in a manner that suggested he was following a pedestrian route into the country. The newspaper reported that he claimed to have witnessed it. They are then picked up by vehicles with non-Vermont license plates that transport the migrants inland.
“If you look at the New Jersey license plate, you know it's a getaway car. These days, New Jersey and Massachusetts are the big states picking up migrants,” he said. Caitlin Pease, a resident of Alborough, Vermont, a town only connected to the United States by a bridge, told the Post. “They're there early in the morning when there's no traffic. Usually around 6 or 7 in the morning.”
According to the paper, the migrants will meet at the Jolly Quick Stop gas station, where Pease is an assistant manager.
Additionally, migrant smugglers are adept at locating U.S. Border Patrol agents to avoid arrest. “[T]Hey, they almost always have a rental car in case they get caught. That way they won't have their car impounded… They usually have two cars. They drive by to see where the Border Patrol is,” Lewis, a resident of Highgate Center, Vermont, told the Post.
“The back car will stop to pick up people, and the front car will move forward as a scout,” Lewis said.
The United States and Canada have a treaty known as. Safe third country agreement, which mandates that foreign nationals seeking asylum must do so in the first country they arrive in, whether it is the United States or Canada.Federal law allows U.S. Border Patrol to arrest and detain aliens who are in the U.S. illegally anywhere. Within 100 miles of external boundaries.
However, many migrants are able to avoid arrest after crossing the Swanton area. “Border Patrol isn't there usually,” Pease pointed out.
The U.S. Border Patrol did not respond to requests for comment.
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