Nearly 20K Migrants Enter One U.S.-Canada Border Sector in FY24, More than Last 17 Years Combined

Nearly 20,000 migrants illegally crossed the border from Canada into the Swanton Border Patrol Sector. Officials report this is more than the prior 17 years combined.

In FY2020, President Donald Trump’s last full year in office, only 574 migrants crossed into the Swanton Sector’s area of operation in Eastern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, according to a social media post by Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia. By FY22, that number nearly doubled to 574. From there, the numbers skyrocketed to 6,925 in FY23 and 19,222 in FY24.

Chief Garcia reported the nearly 20,000 migrants encountered in the Swanton Sector in the recently ended FY24 came from 97 countries.

Apprehensions peaked in June when Swanton Sector agents apprehended 3,310 migrants. According to the CBP Nationwide Encounters report, the number fell to 2,751 in July, 2,198 in August, and approximately 1,412 in September.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens praised the Swanton Sector agents for reducing encounters by 50 percent from June to September. He did not explain as to what the Border Patrol did to reduce the record-shattering apprehension numbers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have repeatedly refused Breitbart’s requests to interview Chief Owens or Chief Garcia regarding the cause of the sudden spike that began in mid-FY21 and why the trend reversed during the last quarter of FY24. The agency has also not released migrant got-away numbers for the Swanton Sector.

Border Patrol officials previously told Breitbart Texas that most migrants crossing from Canada into the Swanton Sector are not looking to surrender. Rather, agents must track down and rely on community tips to find the migrants attempting to sneak into the U.S. interior.

In June, Chief Garcia reported that agents apprehended migrants from 85 different countries this fiscal year, Breitbart Texas reported.

The list of nations includes migrants from Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liberia, Lithuania, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Romania, Russia. Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, Togo, Turkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.