illegal immigration
Terrorist watch list apprehensions at northern border continue to break records
In July, Border Patrol agents apprehended 871 people trying to enter the U.S. illegally in the Swanton Sector at the northern border with Canada.
From The Centre Square
By
The number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) apprehended at the northern border in the first six months of fiscal 2024 continue to outpace those apprehended at the southwest border.
There have been 143 KSTs apprehended at the northern border through the first six months of this fiscal year compared to 92 at the southwest border, according to the most recent CBP data.
Those apprehended are known to law enforcement and in the national Terrorist Screening Dataset, a federal database that contains sensitive information on terrorist identities. It originated as a consolidated terrorist watchlist “to house information on known or suspected terrorists but evolved over the last decade to include additional individuals who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watchlisted individuals,” CBP explains.
This is after the greatest number of foreign nationals were apprehended illegally entering through the northern border than at any time in U.S. history during the same time period, The Center Square reported.
The greatest number of KSTs to ever be apprehended in U.S. history was at the northern border in fiscal 2023 of 484. The next greatest number to be apprehended in U.S. history was 313 at the northern border in fiscal 2022, according to CBP data.
Overall, the greatest combined number of KSTs apprehended at both the northern and southerns borders was in fiscal 2023 of 736, The Center Square reported. The greatest number of KSTs have historically been apprehended at the northern border, outpacing those apprehended at the southwest border for years, The Center Square first reported.
“The alarming conclusion from these numbers is every day we have individuals that are on the FBI terrorist watch list that could have an intention to harm our country and are entering every single day,” former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. “It’s not if or when the threat tries to come to our country. We already know that’s happening already. The threat is already here,” he said, referring to the at least two million gotaways, those who illegally entered the country and evaded capture.
While total illegal entries at the northern border are “minuscule” compared to the southwest border, “the threat is not,” he said. “While there are shortages of resources across the board, the northern border doesn’t have the infrastructure, technology, personnel that the southwest border has. The northern border represents a threat.”
In his 30-plus-year law enforcement career, Morgan also served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also served for 20 years with the FBI in multiple capacities, targeting organized crime, gangs, and counterterrorism operations, among others.
Morgan was among a group of retired FBI counterintelligence officials to warn Congress in January that the presidents’ border policies had facilitated a “soft invasion” into the U.S. of military-age men coming from terror-linked regions, China and Russia.
“It would be difficult to overstate the danger represented by the presence inside our borders of what is comparatively a multi-division army of young single adult males from hostile nations and regions whose background, intent, or allegiance is completely unknown,” they warned. “They include individuals encountered by border officials and then possibly released into the country, along with the shockingly high estimate of ‘gotaways,’ meaning those who have entered and evaded apprehension.”
Of the more than 11 million foreign nationals who have illegally entered the U.S. since January 2021, the majority are single military age men, The Center Square has reported.
Every year the numbers break previous records; this fiscal year is no different. More than 1.7 million foreign nationals illegally entered the U.S. in the first six months of fiscal 2024, the greatest number for this time period in U.S. history, The Center Square reported.
Among them are individuals with ties to the terrorist group ISIS, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned earlier this year, after making repeated remarks about heightened terrorist threats since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
House Republicans have demanded answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on how many KSTs have been released into the country.
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, introduced a bill to require federal agents to screen everyone who enters the country illegally against the terrorist watch list.
Morgan praised the work of CBP and Border Patrol agents apprehending KSTs but also raised concerns about those who weren’t being caught due to the sheer volume coming in and the fact that agents have been pulled away from their national security mandate.
“Every single day we have individuals on FBI terrorist watch list who are trying to come into the country,” Morgan told The Center Square. “If you think we are catching everybody, you live in a dream world. If you think we are able to identify everyone on the watch list as well, that’s not happening either.
“How many on the watchlist that we’ve apprehended who illegally came into the U.S. were released? How many have claimed asylum and we’ve let them in?
“Countless national security threats have gotten by us, and they are in the United States. We know nothing about them, where they are at, or what they are planning to do.”
Crime
CBSA Bust Uncovers Mexican Cartel Network in Montreal High-Rise, Moving Hundreds Across Canada-U.S. Border
A court document cited by La Presse in prior reporting on the case.
The conviction targets Edgar Gonzalez de Paz, 37, a Mexican national identified in court evidence as a key organizer in a Montreal-based smuggling network that La Presse documented in March through numerous legal filings.
According to the Canada Border Services Agency, Gonzalez de Paz’s guilty plea acknowledges that he arranged a clandestine crossing for seven migrants on January 27–28, 2024, in exchange for money. He had earlier been arrested and charged with avoiding examination and returning to Canada without authorization.
Breaking the story in March, La Presse reported: “A Mexican criminal organization has established itself in Montreal, where it is making a fortune by illegally smuggling hundreds of migrants across the Canada-U.S. border. Thanks to the seizure of two accounting ledgers, Canadian authorities have gained unprecedented access to the group’s secrets, which they hope to dismantle in the coming months.”
La Presse said the Mexico-based organization ran crossings in both directions — Quebec to the United States and vice versa — through roughly ten collaborators, some family-linked, charging $5,000 to $6,000 per trip and generating at least $1 million in seven months.
The notebooks seized by CBSA listed clients, guarantors, recruiters in Mexico, and accomplices on the U.S. side. In one April 20, 2024 interception near the border, police stopped a vehicle registered to Gonzalez de Paz and, according to evidence cited by La Presse, identified him as one of the “main organizers,” operating without legal status from a René-Lévesque Boulevard condo that served as headquarters.
Seizures included cellphones, a black notebook, and cocaine. A roommate’s second notebook helped authorities tally about 200 migrants and more than $1 million in receipts.
“This type of criminal organization is ruthless and often threatens customers if they do not pay, or places them in a vulnerable situation,” a CBSA report filed as evidence stated, according to La Presse.
The Montreal-based organization first appeared on the radar in a rural community of about 400 inhabitants in the southern Montérégie region bordering New York State, La Presse reported, citing court documents.
On the U.S. side of the line, in the Swanton Sector (Vermont and adjoining northern New York and New Hampshire), authorities reported an exceptional surge in 2022–2023 — driven largely by Mexican nationals rerouting via Canada — foreshadowing the Mexican-cartel smuggling described in the CBSA case.
Gonzalez de Paz had entered Canada illegally in 2023, according to La Presse. When officers arrested him, CBSA agents seized 30 grams of cocaine, two cellphones, and a black notebook filled with handwritten notes. In his apartment, they found clothing by Balenciaga, a luxury brand whose T-shirts retail for roughly $1,000 each.
Investigators have linked this case to another incident at the same address involving a man named Mario Alberto Perez Gutierrez, a resident of the same condo as early as 2023.
Perez Gutierrez was accompanied by several men known to Canadian authorities for cocaine trafficking, receiving stolen goods, armed robbery, or loitering in the woods near the American border, according to a Montreal Police Service (SPVM) report filed as evidence.
The CBSA argued before the immigration tribunal that Gonzalez de Paz belonged to a group active in human and drug trafficking — “activities usually orchestrated by Mexican cartels.”
As The Bureau has previously reported, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Cabinet was warned in 2016 that lifting visa requirements for Mexican visitors would “facilitate travel to Canada by Mexicans with criminal records,” potentially including “drug smugglers, human smugglers, recruiters, money launderers and foot soldiers.”
CBSA “serious-crime” flags tied to Mexican nationals rose sharply after the December 2016 visa change. Former CBSA officer Luc Sabourin, in a sworn affidavit cited by The Bureau, alleged that hundreds of cartel-linked operatives entered Canada following the visa lift.
The closure of Roxham Road in 2023 altered migrant flows and increased reliance on organized smugglers — a shift reflected in the ledger-mapped Montreal network and a spike in U.S. northern-border encounters.
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Los Angeles County leaders have declared a state of emergency over Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, a move that federal officials and conservative leaders are blasting as a political stunt that undermines the rule of law.
JUST IN: Los Angeles County declares a state of emergency in response to the ICE raids, will provide rent relief.
The LA County Board of Supervisors made the move as the Trump admin continues to ramp up the raids.
“The move allows the LA County Board of Supervisors to provide… pic.twitter.com/DqtvvfhWDu
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 15, 2025
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a “Proclamation of Local Emergency for Federal Immigration Actions,” with only one supervisor, Kathryn Barger, voting no. The board claimed that ICE raids “created fear, disrupted neighborhoods, and destabilized families, workers, and businesses” across the region.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who introduced the measure, said the declaration “ensures that the full weight of County government is aligned to support our immigrant communities who are being targeted by federal actions.” But critics say the move has nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with shielding criminal illegal aliens from deportation. “The only emergency is the one the residents of Los Angeles face after electing officials who give a middle finger to the law,” an ICE spokesperson told Fox News, adding that the agency is simply enforcing President Trump’s mandate to remove those in the country illegally — including violent offenders.
ICE spokesperson Emily Covington went further, saying, “Perhaps the board should ‘supervise’ funds to support law-abiding fire victims who still haven’t recovered instead of criminal illegal aliens seeking refuge in their sanctuary city. While they publicly fear-monger, I would be shocked if they didn’t agree with ICE removing a child rapist from their neighborhood.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the move “illegal” and accused Los Angeles County of aiding and abetting lawbreaking. “They don’t care about their citizens,” Bondi said on Fox News’ Hannity. “It’s hurting our citizens, and we’re going to keep fighting for the American people.” Chair Kathryn Barger — the lone dissenting vote — also warned that the county’s action could trigger federal consequences, noting that “the federal government has sole authority to enforce federal immigration law, and local governments cannot impede that authority.” She added that the county should instead push for “meaningful immigration reform that is fair, pragmatic, and creates legal pathways for those who contribute to our communities.”
The board’s declaration allows county departments to “mobilize resources, expedite contracting and procurement, coordinate interagency response, and request state and federal assistance” for residents impacted by ICE operations. It will remain in effect until the supervisors vote to terminate it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in August that between June and August, ICE agents arrested more than 5,000 illegal immigrants across Los Angeles County — including gang members, child predators, and murderers. “Families protected. American taxpayers spared the cost of their crimes AND the burden of their benefits,” Noem said at the time. “Thank you to our brave law enforcement officers. Make no mistake: if you are here illegally, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back. This is just the beginning.”
Critics of the county’s new proclamation say it sends the opposite message — one that rewards lawlessness and punishes those enforcing the law. As ICE continues its work to deport violent offenders, Los Angeles’ leadership appears more focused on fighting federal immigration law than on protecting the residents they were elected to serve.
(AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
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