Border patrol agents reportedly reassigned to northern border

​More than two dozen Border Patrol officers have been transferred to the northern border to respond to a ​historic ​spike in the number of Mexican immigrants crossing into the United States from Canada, according to a report.

Customs and Border Protection has assigned 25 extra agents to a busy section of the Canadian frontier that borders New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, NBC News reported on Monday, citing an agency spokesperson.

Some of the reassigned agents were pulled from their previous duties on the US-Mexican border, the report said.

“While the apprehension numbers are small compared to other areas with irregular migration flows, Swanton Sector apprehensions constitute a large change in this area,” the CBP spokesperson told the network.

“The deployed team will serve as a force multiplier in the region and assist to deter and disrupt human smuggling activities being conducted in the Swanton Sector area of responsibility,” the person added.​

A CBP spokesperson said the temporary deployment of agents from areas “not experiencing an influx” to the Swanton Sector began Monday “due to migration fluctuations along the northern border.”​

The Swanton Sector comprises 24,000 square miles and stretches 295 miles along the US-Canada border, the longest international frontier in the world.

Since Oct. 1, 2022, apprehensions have surged 846% in the sector over the same period 12 months earlier, CBP stats show. 

In January of this year, the Swanton Sector recorded 367 apprehensions and encounters despite sub-freezing temperatures in the region — a rate that far exceeded the 344 apprehensions in the same month over the past 12 years combined.

In January 2022, for example, just 24 migrants were stopped in the sector. 

While the number of apprehensions at the Mexican border still dwarfs those on the northern border, the surge has captured the attention of officials inside the CBP and required additional resources, NBC reported. 

Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said he was worried about the safety of both border agents and migrants as temperatures plummet to minus-4 degrees. 

“As we progress deeper into winter and continue to address the ongoing pace of illicit cross-border traffic, the level of concern for the lives and welfare of our Border Patrol Agents and those we are encountering – particularly vulnerable populations – continues to climb,” Garcia​ said in a statement last month​. 

“It cannot be stressed enough: not only is it unlawful to circumvent legal means of entry into the United States, but it is extremely dangerous, particularly in adverse weather conditions, which our Swanton Sector has in incredible abundance,” he ​continued.

More than any other nationality, Mexican migrants seeking asylum in the US have been turned away at the southern border because of Title 42 COVID-19 restrictions that took effect in March 2020, the report said.

But those with the financial ability to buy a $350 one-way plane ticket from Mexico City or Cancun to Toronto or Montreal can attempt to cross into the US from Canada because they are less likely to be turned back because of Title 42, which is used less frequently than on the southern border.