Migrant Apprehensions in Northern U.S. Border Sector Jump 484 Percent this Year

Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents experienced an increase of nearly 484 percent in the number of migrants apprehended in the first two months of the new fiscal year. In October and November this year, agents apprehended approximately 473 migrants compared to only 81 apprehensions during the same period last year.

The Swanton Sector along the U.S. border with Canada is normally a slow sector with an average of about 40 migrant apprehensions per month, according to officials reports from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reviewed by Breitbart Texas. However, in March 2022, that number began to creep up from 40 in February to 236 in September.

Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia tweeted a report showing that agents in his sector apprehended 334 migrants in October from 19 different countries. This represents an increase of 676 percent over October 2021. This was the eighth straight month of increasing migrant apprehensions.

In November, the number of apprehensions fell back slightly to 139 migrants, according to unofficial numbers. This compares to 38 apprehensions in November 2022 — an increase of nearly 266 percent.

During the first two months of the new fiscal year, Swanton Sector agents apprehended at least 473 migrants. This compares to 1,065 migrant apprehensions for the entire Fiscal Year 2022. In FY 2021 and 2020, Swanton agents apprehended only 365 and 574 migrants respectively.

While the numbers are not overwhelming compared to the apprehensions along the southwest border with Mexico, the rapidly increasing number of apprehensions in this one northern border sector is concerning.

Breitbart Texas reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Swanton Sector officials to attempt to arrange an interview with the newly appointed sector chief. That interview was not immediately available but we hope to conduct it soon.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.

Editor’s Note: The November numbers cited above come from unofficial sources. The official numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection are expected to be released shortly and could reflect slightly different results.