America’s northern border with Canada remains safe, with illegal immigration barely a blip and the biggest terrorism danger being homegrown radical Canadians attempting to enter the U.S. legally, the Homeland Security Department said Thursday.
Drug trafficking is the biggest problem, with heavy regular legal traffic providing the perfect cover for cocaine and methamphetamine going north to Canada, and smaller amounts of fentanyl, marijuana and MDMA crossing south into the U.S., the department said.
Fewer than 1,000 illegal immigrants are nabbed by the border patrol each year in the northern border, and even then, most of them actually snuck in from Mexico and made their way north before being caught.
By contrast, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are apprehended at the southern border each year, and non-Mexicans make up a large portion, with Mexico serving as a transit point for those from Central America and elsewhere.
The government said there are dangers, given the large expanse of the border and the heavy legal traffic that already crosses back and forth, but said few people appear to be exploiting the situation.
“Known illegal crossings on the northern border conform to established migration patterns between large population centers. Terrain, weather, and distance are factors that constrain illegal migrant travel in remote areas of the border,” the department said.
The new report is an executive summary of the Northern Border Threat Analysis Report, which Congress asked for.
Overall, cooperation with Canada is good, the analysts said.
The problem of drug trafficking, though, is compounded by the countries’ close ties and frequent traffic, particularly near big cities. Drug traffickers can sneak in among recreational boaters traveling between the two countries, or use the heavy commercial traffic to conceal their loads, analysts said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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