Illegal border crossings from Manitoba more than tripled in last year, U.S. officials say

U.S. border patrol agents have caught more than three times as many people attempting to illegally cross from Manitoba into the United States in the last year compared to 2022, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

From October 2022 to the end of August 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol says it apprehended 237 people who unlawfully crossed the border from Manitoba into North Dakota or Minnesota.

That's compared to just 68 in all of the agency's 2022 fiscal year, which ran from October 2021 to October 2022. 

"The vast majority are just trying to come here to for a better life, and they're desperate to get here and they're approached by smugglers in their country," said David Marcus, a border patrol agent with the Grand Forks Sector, which covers the North Dakota and Minnesota section of the U.S. border.

"And the smugglers say they can get him here safely and that's a lie. They can't guarantee anybody's safety."

The most common country of origin for border crossers was Mexico, followed by the United Kingdom, said Marcus.

In some cases, the smugglers tell migrants the northern border is easier to get across than the border between the U.S. and Mexico. 

In other cases, they have told migrants that they can get them a job in Canada if they fly there. But once they arrive in Canada, they are told the job is actually in the U.S., Marcus said. 

Manitoba RCMP aren't seeing the same number of illegal crossings northbound, said spokesperson Tara Seel.

So far, in 2023 Mounties have intercepted 62 people trying to cross into Manitoba from the U.S., compared to 81 in 2022, she said. 

"So the flow seems to go more heavily towards the south," said Seel.

However, she said any activity along the border does end up impacting RCMP as well, since agencies on both sides of the border work together on enforcement and RCMP will sometimes have to assist in rescues.

"That's one of the concerns that we're looking at moving into the cold weather season, [because] that's when most of those rescues on our part tend to take place."

Relying on misinformation 

Alastair Clarke, a Winnipeg immigration lawyer, said there's a lot of misinformation circulating about the immigration process to Canada or the U.S., which can have dire consequences. 

He said he often encounters that type of misinformation in his own work, when trying to help clients navigate a complex immigration system. 

"I regularly speak to individuals who quote me information that is out of date — possibly this just doesn't apply to their case, possibly [it] relates to another program — and they didn't understand that that program is not related to … their particular circumstance," he said. 

Border crossers are often "relying on information from relatives [or] information maybe they might have heard online … and they are putting their lives in the hands of strangers in order for them to then hopefully achieve that goal," he said. 

"Too often it results in tragedy, or it results in some type of refusal or some type of misstep or mistake that can lead to serious consequences."

The increase in the number of illegal crossings comes nearly two years after a family of four from India — Jagdish and Vaishali Patel, and their children, Vihangi and Dharmik — froze to death near Emerson, Man., while trying to walk south across the border.

And in April of this year, nine men who tried to illegally cross from Canada into the U.S. were rescued from a flooded bog in northern Minnesota. All nine were treated for exposure, and one needed to be airlifted to hospital. 

Marcus said while these types of emergencies don't happen often, border patrol agents do respond to "quite a few" 911 calls every winter. 

"Some of them aren't exactly life threatening yet, but if they don't call 911, they could develop into a life-threatening situation," he said. 

"Sometimes we're able to get to them before there's any injuries that happen or frostbite sets in, or other dangers that they face." 

Like the RCMP's Seel, Marcus said the increase in illegal crossings is particularly concerning heading into the winter months. 

"We don't want to see people get hurt, we don't want to see people risk their lives, and we don't want anybody to end up dying to try and come here illegally."