A disparity in terrorist apprehensions at the U.S.-Canada border highlights that it is much less secure than the southern border between the United States and Mexico.
According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the northern border has seen an unprecedented number of encounters with individuals on the terrorist watchlist, significantly surpassing those at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years.
The data highlights that between fiscal year 2022 and Oct. 2024, 1,199 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have been apprehended attempting to cross into the United States from Canada.
Conversely, only 205 individuals were caught at the southern border during the same period.
The data for the fiscal year of 2025, which began Oct. 2024 and tracks until the end of the month, highlights that 44 individuals on the terrorist watchlist were apprehended in the first month alone, meaning the annual pace will be 528 potential terrorists apprehended at the U.S.-Canada border, a projected increase of 47% from the previous fiscal year.
Founder of True North Candice Malcolm said this stark difference is due to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “disastrous immigration policy.”
“Five times as many terrorists entered the United States through Canada than through Mexico,” she said.
She asked what the terrorists were doing in Canada in the first place, including how they got here and how many remain at large.
“So spare me the lecture about taking a ‘Team Canada’ approach to Trump and his potential 25% tariff. Spare me the anger and frustration at Trump for wanting to secure his nation’s borders,” said Malcolm. “This crisis is entirely Trudeau’s own making.”
The United States had previously threatened stricter border rules if the Liberals didn’t fix its immigration policies that were resulting in illegal immigration.
In 2023 alone, 484 individuals on the terrorist watchlist were intercepted at the Canada-U.S. border, compared to 80 at the U.S.-Mexico border, meaning six times more potential terrorists were apprehended trying to cross through the northern border.
A United States Homeland Security report highlighted that apprehensions at the northern border increased by 600% compared to 2021 and surpassed both 2021 and 2022 combined. There were 198,929 encounters with illegal immigrants at the Canada-U.S. border in fiscal year 2024.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre highlighted other issues at the border following President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to implement a 25% tariff on products from Canada and Mexico due to Canada’s poor border security.
“Justin Trudeau must put partisanship aside, not just for the sake of Team Canada, but for the sake of our people, and fully reverse his liberalization of drugs. Ban them. Prosecute those who traffic in them. Secure our borders against the illegal importation of fentanyl ingredients,” said Poilievre. “Look, President Trump has the right to put his workers and his nation’s security first. I will put Canada’s workers and Canada’s security first. We need a prime minister with the strength and the smarts, the brains and the backbone to stand up for this country, to rebuild our security, our military and our economy. That is what I will do.”
Poilievre added that he didn’t want to stop drug overdoses to please Trump, but so that “there’s not one more mother with her face buried in a pillow sobbing that he just lost her kid.”
Trudeau said that he had a phone call with Trump on Tuesday.
“He obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth. We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call. This is something that we can do, laying out the facts, moving forward in constructive ways,” said Trudeau.
He added that he reached out to some of the premiers and that a First Ministers meeting would take place this week to discuss the border’s issues.
