More than 4,000 migrants are apprehended at US-Canada border in just four months exceeding last 12 years COMBINED - including 103 from terror watchlist

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In the first three months of 2024, border agents have arrested 6,039 migrants entering the country without authorization-  a number that puts the Border Patrol on track to exceed 14,000 arrests by the end of the year, which would break last year's record.

In 2023, agents arrested 10,021 people trying to enter the country illegally, as per U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

In 2023, 7,000 migrants were arrested in the Swanton sector - a cold and inhospitable region along the northern border that embraces five eastern counties of New York, all of Vermont and all of New Hampshire. 

The 7,000 arrests were more than the previous 12 years combined. 

The Swanton Sector stretches for 295 miles and includes fields sodden with melted snow, forests and fast streams. It features terrain that is difficult for migrants to navigate. 

There have already been 4,000 arrests in the Swanton Sector this year, making the region poised to break its record of 7,000 arrests last year

The US Border Patrol has already seized double the amount of fentanyl at the northern border that they did last year

Last year, ten migrants died trying to cross through the Swanton sector. These deaths included drownings, hypothermia and poor preparation for the hostile climate.

The resources of the border patrol agents in the Swanton Sector are overstrained. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, of the 6,039 migrants arrested in 2024, two-thirds of them - more than 4,000 people - have been apprehended in the Swanton Ssctor.

This portends a much large wave of migrants to follow, as this surge occurred in the winter months, when many are discouraged from crossing because of the harsh conditions.

As spring gets underway, and the weather starts to warm, more migrants are expected to try to slip through the northern border. 

Those arrested along the northern border have come from far-flung places. The individuals came from 66 different countries, including India, Bangladesh, Haiti and Venezuela.

Approximately 49 percent of those arrested were from Mexico.

According to Erik Lavallee, the border patrol agent in charge of the Beecher Falls Station in Vermont, the number of migrants pouring through the northern border came as a surprise.

People arrested at the northern border have come from 66 different countries, including India, Bangladesh, Haiti and Venezuela. Pictured: A car smuggling 12 Romanians, including seven children, which was stopped in November after they were across the Canadian border in Washington

Border Patrol agents apprehended several illegal immigrants in January after they crossed the Niagara River from Canada amid the surge in crossings at the northern border

'It was a flood we had never seen before. It was an exponential shift, something we were not expecting and it just hit us hard,' Lavallee told CBS News. 

In his nearly two decades of service in the Swanton sector, Lavallee said he has never experienced a migrant surge of this size.

He said that a majority of the migrants are men travelling without families, but the Border Patrol insists it still detains many families.

Lavallee explained that many of the men are involved in human smuggling.

'We know there are multiple organizations that are utilizing Canada to smuggle individuals into the United States,' he said.

The Border Patrol has also seen an uptick in the number of people on the terrorist watchlist coming through the northern border.

In 2023, the Border Patrol arrested 564 people on the terror watchlist. 484 of them were apprehended along the norther border.

In 2024, 103 people on the watchlist have already been arrested trying to cross the northern border.

The problem at the northern border is partially derived from the dearth of barriers or other obstacles that might deter migrants. 

Instead, the Border Patrol employs ground sensors, drones, and patrols to combat illegal crossings. They also depend on calls from locals.

According to Lavallee, the problem at the northern border has been compounded by Canada's foolish foreign policy. Until recently, Canada did not require Mexicans, as well as some other foreign groups, to have travel visas to fly into the country.

Last year, ten migrants died trying to navigate the Swanton sector's inhospitable terrain

Mexican citizens only had to possess an electronic authorization form, which, Lavallee claimed, enabled them to enter the United States.

'For a very minimal fee, they would be able to enter the country as a tourist,' he said. 

Lavallee continued: 'Some folks, utilizing the ETA program, were being arrested here in the United States for illegal entry within 24 hours of their landing in Canada.'

Canada scrapped this policy toward the end of February and announced additional requirements for Mexican citizens, including possession of a visa.

Lavallee believed that the migrants entering through the northern border have different priorities from those at the southern border. While those at the southern border are often pleading for asylum, migrants at the northern border are driven by a desire to elude authorities. 

"Here, we're not seeing the same prevalence of individuals requesting either asylum or wanting to be caught,' Lavallee said.

'The people here that we're seeing for the most part, they're trying to find that seam. They're trying to find that vulnerability and come into the United States without detection.' 

With the uptick in smugglers at the norther border, there has been a concomitant rise in fentanyl seized.

In the first four months of 2024, border patrol agents have already seized double the amount they did last year.

An image released by Border Patrol agents shows a suspected illegal migrant who has recently crossed from Canada

U.S. Border Patrol uses thermal imaging cameras at the border with Canada to detect crossings. This image shows a group who caught crossing in the Swanton Sector, which is the northern border's busiest area

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, agents have interdicted 1,212 pounds of fentanyl at the northern border- enough to kill 270 million Americans.

Given some of the disreputable characters coming through the northern border, it should come as little surprise that some of the border agents' encounters with smugglers have devolved into violence.

'We have seen some of the smugglers, when they're attempting to run, they're ramming Border Patrol vehicles or other law enforcement vehicles as well as actual combative and assaultive individuals,' Lavallee said.

'It may just be a matter of time before we face some serious repercussions and serious issues.'