Of the 14 northern border states that share a land or water border with Canada, the greatest number of apprehensions of illegal border crossers were reported in New York, Washington and Vermont during the Biden administration, according to the latest data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
When releasing the latest apprehension data for April, the Trump administration also released data by state for the last administration through the fiscal year to date. The federal fiscal year goes from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. Published charts include monthly data for fiscal years 2022-2025 to date. Fiscal 2021 and 2020 data was published separately.
Biden administration data includes the first three months of fiscal 2025, nine months of fiscal 2021, and all of fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Combined, illegal northern border crosser apprehensions totaled nearly one million under the Biden administration, according to CBP data and gotaway data exclusively reported by The Center Square for the busiest northern border sector of Swanton.
According to the data, northern border apprehensions increased each year despite Biden administration claims that the border was closed or its policies were facilitating a “safe, orderly migration.” The majority of northern border states saw the greatest number of illegal entries in 2024, the last year of the administration, according to CBP data.
The greatest numbers ever reported in recorded history in Montana, Maine, North Dakota and Washington were reported in 2024, according to the data.
For fiscal years 2022 through 2024 and three months of fiscal 2025, nearly 701,000 illegal border crosser apprehensions/encounters were reported in 14 northern border states.
From west to east, they totaled:
Alaska: 6,648Washington: 120,720Idaho: 529Montana: 30,474North Dakota: 13,788Minnesota: 7,483Wisconsin: 111Michigan: 44,011Ohio: 1,020Pennsylvania: 17,282New York: 342,488Vermont: 59,298New Hampshire: 82Maine: 57,058
Nearly half of all northern border apprehensions were reported in New York. Washington, Vermont, Maine and Montana recorded the next most.
As the border crisis unfolded under the Biden administration, most congressional investigations and reports and news reports solely focused on the southwest border, largely ignoring the northern border.
Yet the greatest number of U.S. states, 14, share the longest international border in the world with Canada, totaling 5,525 miles.
It remains largely unmanned and unprotected, The Center Square has reported for four years, highlighting unprecedented illegal entries, threats of terrorism and lack of operational control there. Officials have explained that the apprehension data represents a fraction of illegal border crossers – they don’t know how many have really come through largely remote areas where one Border Patrol agent may be responsible for patrolling several hundred miles, The Center Square has reported.
Unlike the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, there is no border wall, significantly less technological equipment exists and far fewer agents are stationed there.
Despite being understaffed and having fewer less resources, Border Patrol and CBP agents at the U.S.-Canada border apprehended the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) in the country, 1,216, during the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported.
This was as northern border terrorist-related arrests soared to record high numbers under the Biden and Trudeau administrations, The Center Square exclusively reported.
Nationwide, from fiscal years 2021-2024, the greatest number of KSTs were apprehended by Border Patrol and CBP agents in U.S. history, 1,903, The Center Square exclusively reported. The majority, 64%, were apprehended at the northern border coming from Canada, according to CBP data.
In February, President Donald Trump for the first time in U.S. history declared a national emergency at the northern border, also ordering the U.S. military to implement border security measures there, The Center Square reported.
Since Trump’s been in office, illegal border crossings plummeted and northern border apprehensions decreased as they have nationwide.
At the beginning of the fiscal year in October, northern border apprehensions totaled 15,207; in April, they totaled 4,835, excluding gotaways.
Fiscal year to date, they totaled 57,303, accounting for roughly 10% of the total number of apprehensions nationwide, according to CBP data.
