U.S. Border Patrol’s Acting Deputy Chief Says Canada Border Is ‘Not Secure’

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A normally quiet frontier has suddenly become a louder political fault line. On June 30, U.S. Border Patrol Acting Deputy Chief Jason Schneider told lawmakers that the boundary with Canada could not yet be called secure, even as he said the agency was moving closer through more staff, infrastructure and surveillance technology.

His assessment landed at a sensitive moment: irregular crossings have fallen dramatically from their 2024 peak, Canada has committed $1.3 billion to border enforcement, and both countries continue to depend on fast-moving trade and travel. The dispute is therefore not simply about how many people are being caught. It is about whether authorities can reliably detect what is happening across thousands of kilometres of forests, lakes, mountains, farmland and remote terrain—and how far governments should go to close the remaining gaps.

What Schneider Actually Told Congress

Schneider appeared before a joint hearing of two U.S. House Homeland Security subcommittees examining threats along the northern border. Asked directly by Republican Representative Michael Guest whether the border was secure, Schneider answered that it was not secure “right now,” while adding that the agency was getting closer. He pointed to a broad strategy involving more personnel, infrastructure and technology rather than a single barrier or enforcement measure.

The more consequential part of his testimony concerned visibility. Schneider said Border Patrol did not have complete situational awareness across the roughly 5,500-mile boundary when Alaska is included. That is a narrower and more operational claim than saying every part of the border is in crisis. It means the agency cannot guarantee that it sees every attempted crossing between official ports of entry. His wording also matters because Border Patrol’s standard is not merely a low number of arrests; it is the ability to detect, identify and respond to activity across an enormous area.

A Border Shaped by Distance, Water and Weather

The U.S.-Canada boundary is fundamentally different from the U.S.-Mexico border. The contiguous portion stretches nearly 4,000 miles, touches 13 American states and is divided among eight Border Patrol sectors. Some sectors must watch shorelines and waterways around the Great Lakes, while others cover forests, mountain ranges, open prairie and sparsely populated rural roads. Winter weather can make patrols and equipment maintenance even more difficult.

That geography explains why a wall-based model is poorly suited to much of the north. Surveillance towers, ground sensors, aircraft, boats, intelligence sharing and cooperation with local authorities often matter more than continuous fencing. It also creates uneven risk. A busy crossing near Detroit or Buffalo has officers, inspection lanes and heavy traffic, while a remote stretch may rely on cameras, sensors and mobile patrols. Schneider’s warning was therefore less about one obvious breach than about the challenge of maintaining consistent awareness across many different environments at the same time.

The 2024 Surge Changed Washington’s View

Washington’s concern did not appear from nowhere. The Government Accountability Office found that Border Patrol apprehensions between northern ports of entry rose from 6,618 in fiscal 2019 to 24,968 in fiscal 2024. The Swanton sector, which covers parts of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, recorded 19,773 apprehensions in fiscal 2024—more than three-quarters of the northern total and a 1,165 percent increase from 2019.

The profile of those apprehended also shifted. In fiscal 2024, 58 percent were citizens of India, followed by Mexico at 14 percent and Bangladesh at 7 percent. U.S. officials told the GAO that some travellers who lacked documents to enter the United States had first reached Canada through its electronic travel authorization system and then attempted to cross between ports. Those figures describe people who were detected and detained; they do not show how many entered without being seen, nor do they establish that most people posed a security threat beyond an immigration violation.

The Crossing Numbers Have Since Collapsed

The surge has since reversed sharply. Canadian government data show monthly southbound apprehensions falling from 3,437 in June 2024 to 19 in January 2026, a decline of about 99 percent. The GAO had already recorded a major slowdown in the first half of fiscal 2025, when northern sectors reported 4,832 apprehensions. That is a very different picture from the peak that drove many of Washington’s warnings.

The decline does not automatically settle Schneider’s argument. Arrest totals measure detected activity, while his testimony focused on whether agents possess complete awareness and operational coverage. A border can have fewer recorded crossings and still contain surveillance gaps; conversely, a higher arrest count can reflect stronger detection rather than weaker control. This distinction is central to interpreting the hearing. The public debate risks becoming misleading if a capability assessment is presented as evidence that crossings are currently exploding, or if falling arrests are treated as proof that every remote corridor is fully monitored.

Canada’s $1.3-Billion Response Is Already Visible

Ottawa has a substantial response to claims that it has failed to act. Canada’s $1.3-billion Border Plan includes new surveillance and intelligence capabilities, Black Hawk helicopters, drones, mobile surveillance towers, counter-drone technology and plans for 1,000 additional Canada Border Services Agency officers. The federal government says roughly 10,000 frontline personnel are already involved in border-related work across agencies.

Canada has also tightened parts of its immigration and enforcement system. It restored some visa requirements for Mexican travellers, expanded visa-fraud investigations and reported 22,576 enforced removals in 2025, including 1,010 cases involving serious inadmissibility such as criminality, organized crime or national-security concerns. Bill C-12, which received royal assent on March 26, 2026, added further immigration, border and financial-crime authorities. These measures do not guarantee perfect control, but they complicate any suggestion that Canada has simply ignored U.S. pressure. Ottawa’s strongest argument is measurable: southbound apprehensions are now a fraction of their 2024 peak.

Fentanyl Claims Require a Sense of Proportion

Fentanyl remains one of the most politically charged parts of the border debate, but the available data require proportion. Canada says less than one percent of fentanyl seized in the United States comes from the northern border. Its May 2026 border update, drawing on U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, reported that northern-border fentanyl seizures had fallen to 0.3 pounds in February 2026. The CBSA separately reported seizing 2.8 kilograms of fentanyl across its operations in 2025, down 43 percent from 2024.

At the same time, the GAO found that the number of Border Patrol fentanyl seizure incidents along the northern border rose from 35 in fiscal 2019 to 296 in fiscal 2024. Those are incident counts, not the total weight seized, so they should not be confused with the volume of the drug entering the United States. Both facts can be true: agents may be encountering fentanyl more often than several years ago while the northern border still represents a very small share of overall U.S. seizures. Precision matters because exaggerated comparisons can distort policy.

Iranian-Border Warnings Raise the Political Stakes

The hearing also followed public warnings from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about Iranian nationals attempting to cross from Canada. Mullin said arrests involving Iranian nationals had been rising and praised cooperation from Canadian authorities. Those remarks raised the political temperature because border discussions quickly shift from immigration enforcement to terrorism and counterintelligence when a geopolitical adversary is mentioned.

However, the public comments did not include a numerical total, a detailed timeline or case-by-case evidence establishing that everyone encountered had ties to the Iranian government or its security services. Nationality by itself is not proof of a terrorist connection. A careful assessment must separate three categories: people accused only of an immigration violation, individuals flagged for additional security screening, and suspects backed by evidence of criminal or national-security links. Schneider’s broader concern about incomplete awareness deserves scrutiny, but so do dramatic claims that have not yet been accompanied by enough public data for independent evaluation.

Staffing and Technology Remain the Clearest Gaps

The strongest evidence supporting Schneider’s concern comes from the GAO’s examination of staffing and equipment. Although authorized Border Patrol positions in northern sectors increased to 2,512 by the end of fiscal 2024, the number of agents actually assigned and working there fell from 2,073 in 2019 to 1,948 in 2024. That left northern sectors at 78 percent of authorized staffing, compared with 90 percent along the southwest border.

Technology has expanded, but not without weaknesses. Border Patrol added large numbers of unattended ground sensors and other surveillance systems, yet camera availability declined in the Detroit and Swanton sectors during a technology refresh. Air and marine operating hours increased, while the number of available aircraft fell by four between 2019 and 2024. The GAO also found that Border Patrol lacked a strategy to fix a staffing shortage among specialists who monitor surveillance feeds. In practical terms, adding sensors is not enough if too few trained people are available to interpret alerts and dispatch agents.

Border Security Decisions Carry a Huge Economic Price

Any major tightening must account for the border’s economic role. U.S. data show 18.3 million personal-vehicle crossings from Canada in 2025, alongside millions of commercial truck movements. Detroit remained the largest northern freight gateway, handling 21.5 percent of truck traffic from Canada. Canada, meanwhile, processed more than 82 million travellers in 2025, including roughly 42 million by land, and handled more than five million commercial truck entries.

The commercial relationship is equally large. U.S. goods trade with Canada totalled an estimated US$719.5 billion in 2025. That scale means security measures cannot be designed as though the border were only an enforcement zone. Longer inspections, staffing shortages or poorly targeted controls can ripple through factories, grocery supply chains and communities that cross the boundary for work or family. The likely policy direction is therefore risk-based: more surveillance between ports, faster intelligence sharing and better targeting, while keeping lawful traffic moving. Schneider’s testimony will strengthen demands for funding, but the data suggest the debate should focus on remaining capability gaps—not portray the entire border as uncontrolled.

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