The crisis at the southern border is an issue that has become increasingly prevalent in the last several years, as the numbers of migrants trying to cross into the United States has ramped up significantly. News of “sanctuary cities” being overrun by migrants has become common, and New York in particular seems to be suffering the brunt of the crisis.
Multiple Stories Out of New York
Multiple stories surrounding the immigration crisis have come out of New York City, between high schoolers being displaced when a migrant center flooded, to the number of shelters that have been overrun with the city’s new residents.
The issue is not exclusively with immigrants that are coming directly from Texas, though. A sheriff out of New York recently did an interview with Fox and Friends, explaining that the Mexican immigration crisis is not simply coming from the south, it’s coming from the north, too.
A Significant Increase in Migrants
According to the sheriff, New York state has seen a significant increase in illegal immigration at the northern US border. David Favro, a sheriff out of Clinton County, explained in this interview that immigrants will do “just about anything” to cross the border.
Clinton County is a county in upstate New York that lies right along the Canadian border in the northeast corner of the state. The Canadian border is much larger, and significantly less guarded against illegal immigrants than the southern border, making this a significantly more plausible mode of entry for some migrants.
Canada Isn’t the Best Entry Point
There is one problem with this particular mode of entry, according to Favro. Immigrants from Mexico, a notably warm country, are not prepared for the significantly colder climate of Canada. The terrain between countries is also significantly rougher than many expect, and there have been some migrants who have drowned trying to cross waterways into the United States.
In his interview, Favro explained that “none of this is humane.” He implied that the way that migrants are treated by the United States is deeply troubling, and that it is the responsibility of the federal government to step up and do something more about it.
Years to Recover
According to Favro, if the government were to close the border of the United States – both North and South – right now, it would take multiple years to stem the current tide of immigrants trying to come into the country. The immigration system is backed up, and needs a reprieve to be able to recover.
He also pointed out that the messaging around the immigration crisis has been atrocious. “What we saw with the attack on our colleagues and law enforcement down in New York City was just repulsive,” he said. “It’s somewhat alarming that our government can stand by and watch something like that happen and think that it’s…remotely acceptable.”
A Times Square Incident
The incident in question that Favro was referring to with his comment happened recently in Times Square. A video was released that showed two migrants attacking NYPD officers in the middle of time square, quite viciously.
The video showed the migrants stomping and kicking two police officers on a CCTV video. The migrants were able to escape before they were properly arrested by the NYPD as a whole, and have yet to be caught, according to reports.
Explaining the Scheme
Favro went on to explain how migrants were flying into Canada from Mexico in order to ultimately traverse to the United States. The operative factor, according to the Sheriff, is money. Migrants who have the cash are able to fly directly into Montreal, and then determine how to get into the United States from there.
Others, he explained, are being smuggled. They are purchasing package deals from the cartels in Mexico that allow them to buy maps that guide them up the landline from Mexico to Canada. New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire have all seen a record uptick in illegal border crossings from Canada due to these schemes.
Numbers to Accompany the Crisis
A recent New York Times report gives some numbers. United States officials at the northern border recorded more than 190,000 encounters with people who were trying to illegally cross into the United States from Canada. This represents a more than 40% increase from the crossings in 2022.
Many of them use legal points of entry, but more than 12,200 migrants were apprehended crossing illegally from Canada in 2023. This is a whopping 241% increase from the number of individuals recorded crossing illegally in 2022, where the number was a mere 3500.
Mexicans Don’t Need a Visa to Visit Canada
Visitors from Mexico don’t need a Visa in order to visit Canada, by Canadian immigration law. Once they get to Canada, though, having a Visa allows many of these migrants to pass into the United States at a legal point of entry with little issue, making the problem more insidious.
As far as the migrants attempting to cross illegally from Canada, the problem is a little more cut and dry. While Favro sees the issue of illegal immigration as inhumane and something that need to be addressed, the short-term solution still appears to be removing migrants when they cross illegally, and sending them back where they came from.
Congress Needs to Act
The immigration crisis, unfortunately, doesn’t appear to be getting better anytime soon. Congress is at a standstill regarding a border bill that passed the Senate last month, with Speaker Mike Johnson stating blunting that the bill is dead on arrival in the House of Representatives.
Biden has been trying to come up with different workarounds that will allow for some small issues at the border to be addressed, with input from both sides of the aisle. Likewise, cities around the country are attempting to pass laws that will help the issue of illegal immigration, but until Congress can get its act together, many of these cities, individuals, and humanitarian organizations are sitting ducks.
