Illegal crossings down, but US agents fear migrants ‘will continue to lose their lives’
While the number of illegal crossings at the North Dakota and Minnesota border with Canada is dropping, the US authorities are still afraid of humanity Trafficking will lead to more deaths in the dangerous winter months.
“Human traffickers … value their own interests, with complete disregard for human life,” Scott Garrett, the main agent of the Grand Forks Patrol in the Sector – US customs and Border Protection Division responsible for overseeing about 1 km, spins in Saskatchewan, and Ontario.
“The reality is that illegal aliens have not and will continue to lose their lives while crossing the border, despite our consistent warnings.”
During a press conference on Tuesday warroad, Minn., Customs and border protection indicated some of the missions are the separation of large areas of patrolling the area, as part of the agency’s efforts to raise awareness of areas that kill deadly accidents.
“They underestimate how cold it really is,” Garrett said. “They cross the border unprepared, with insufficient clothing, not realizing that frostbite or hypothermia will set in quickly.”
Illegal crossings from Canada to the U.S. have dropped by nearly 60 percent from last year, Garrett said — a decrease that was evidenced by President Donald Trump’s efforts to enforce immigration laws.
The RCMP and Canada Border Service Agency have increased Patrols – Contributions that have the most impact on illegal border crossings in both directions, Garrett said.
Manitoba Conservationists began patrolling the US border with a focus on secondary roads and backwaters between ports of entry last winter.
A provincial spokesperson told CBC Conservation officers continue to travel across the border as part of their duties, working with other agencies.
A spokesperson for the Canada Border Service Agency said it welcomes the cooperation of all its partners in separating people crossing the border illegally, but the agency has urged the RCMP to be there again. CBC reached out to the news.
US BORAgents in North Dakota and Minnesota have been issued with “a lot of equipment”, Garrett said, such as snow cameras that have increased their operations in vehicles and drones that have increased their border detection operations.
“For us, it doesn’t just mean that people come to the US, it also means people from the other side,” he said.
According to Garrett, illegal traffic to the US and Canada in the Grand Forks sector is down 20 percent from last year.
“We want to clear the border for those who cross the border legally and safely,” he said.
‘1 There are too many deaths’
Citizens from Mexico, India and Romania make up the three largest groups of those who cross illegally into the United States in the Grand Forks sector, Garrett said. Those painful groups have not changed, and the presence of children among those arrested, he said.
About a month ago, border officials found a family that had crossed with their one-year-old siblings, Garrett said.
“In the last few years, we’re getting better, we’ve adapted better to treating family units, to make sure we have hand diapers, baby formula … but that’s not what we’ve learned,” she said.
In one of the highest profile border cases in recent years, a family of 4 from India – Jagdish Patel, 39, his 37-year-old wife, Vaishali, their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and their three-year-old son, Dharmik – came from the main border, after being separated from a larger group of migrants they were with.
Two men were found guilty by a US jury in November 2024 of charges related to bringing unauthorized people into the country, moving them and profiting from them in connection with their deaths.
At the beginning of the year, another man The defendant is the Indian police for being involved in that person smuggling.
Garrett said that in many cases, people cross into Canada alone, following directions that tell them where to meet a vehicle that is supposed to take them to the US.
But Garrett said Border Patrol agents typically catch smugglers “before they come … take the load, their war,” he said.
“People work in Minneapolis, some come out of Chicago — that’s their main location.”
But the old rural villages that are among the official border entry points — and the frozen rivers used by smugglers during the winter months — pose challenges for agents on the move, Garrett said.
“We still have work to do, as long as human adultery exists. The work of the Border Patrol continues to protect the protection of our status,” he said.
But the risk to people’s safety during the winter can’t be overstated, Garrett said.
“One death is too many.”
The number of illegal crossings at the North Dakota and Minnesota borders with Canada is decreasing, but officials say they expect human trafficking to continue despite dangerous winter conditions.
