by Bethany Blankley
A congressman whose congressional district lies along the northern border in upstate New York has filed a bill to strengthen security measures at the northern border.
U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, a Republican from New York whose district shares a border with Canada along Lake Erie, It was introduced The Northern Border Security Improvement and Review Act is intended to respond to “growing security concerns at the U.S.-Canada border.”
“Our northern border, the longest unsecured border in the world, poses a grave threat to our national security as hundreds of thousands of unidentified individuals flow into our communities each year,” Langworthy said. “The Biden administration’s failures have left us completely vulnerable,” he said, introducing a bill “to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable and accountable to Congress.”
He did this after The Center Square was built. reporting for years about the lack of operational control on the northern border, which officials say poses a sedate threat to national security.
Northern border sees highest number of illegal crossings in US history under Biden administration, Center Square tops list reportedLast month the number illegal border crossers continued to break records – in May the highest number of people were arrested in the history of that month.
This the biggest number known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) have also been consistently apprehended at the northern border, as first reported by The Center Square. Gun and drug seizures have also been To continue to set records on the northern border.
Langworthy said he has met with Border Patrol agents working in upstate New York “and witnessed their struggles firsthand — severely undersupported and left to fend for themselves in this crisis with limited resources. This legislation is not just a necessity; it is a demand for greater transparency from the Biden administration when it comes to the security and sovereignty of our nation.”
The Act directs DHS to conduct and submit a Northern Border Threat Analysis each year and to update the Northern Border Strategy within 90 days of the release of the analysis. It also requires DHS to provide classified information to Congress within 30 days of the transmission of the threat analysis, among other measures.
The bill has multiple Republican co-sponsors, including those representing northern border states.
Co-sponsor and fellow New York Republican, U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, said, “In the first seven months of fiscal year 2024, nearly twice as many people on the known or suspected terrorist list have been apprehended at our northern border as at our southern border. Enough fentanyl has been seized at the northern border to kill more than 270 million Americans. In total, nearly twice as many people have been apprehended at the northern border so far in 2024 as at the same point in 2023. Yet despite these troubling statistics, the crisis at our porous northern border has been even more glaringly overlooked than the crisis at our southern border.”
While most of the attention has been focused on the southwest border, fiscal year 2023 saw the largest number of KST apprehensions in U.S. history, breaking the record set in fiscal year 2022. The Center Square was the first reported.
This fiscal year, through June 20, the highest number of KST apprehensions continues to occur on the northern border, with 199 so far, according to data CBP DataBy comparison, 117 people were detained on the southwestern border.
No one knows how many people on the terror watchlist entered the country illegally and were not caught, multiple officials told The Center Square.
“The northern border is significantly underfunded compared to the southwest border,” former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. “But at the same time, it still poses a significant threat. The cartels are expanding their operations, bringing people into Canada, where they don’t require a visa, which creates an opportunity for people on the terrorist watchlist to exploit. It’s much easier to get into Canada to get there.”
The U.S.-Canada border is the longest international border in the world, spanning 5,525 miles. Unlike the U.S.-Mexico border, there are no border walls or similar barriers separating the U.S. from Canada, and most of the northern border is physically unmanned and unpatrolled.
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Bethany Blankley is a contributor Central Square.
