Four individuals have been apprehended by American border officials after crossing the Canada-US border into Vermont.
Vermont directly borders Quebec, and despite several official border crossings, there has been a surge of illegal border crossings due to weak enforcement.
Some migrants have been taking advantage of a loophole in the Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement to cross the border illegally between official checkpoints.
Ever since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau loosened visa requirements for Mexican citizens entering Canada, illegal Mexican immigration has escalated.
Currently, Mexican citizens require only an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to enter Canada, which costs only $7 and takes a few minutes to complete.
Abandoning prior visa regulations has led to an upsurge in cartel members entering Canada under the pretense of law-abiding Mexican visitors.
According to a recent report, 400 Mexican cartel members have entered Canada illegitimately using fake passports. Among those criminals are drug traffickers, hit-men and criminals, many of whom went off the radar since after being spotted by Canadian authorities.
Mexican migrants crossing illegally from the US into Canada have also been a problem for border authorities.
In 2018 alone, Canada had a 1,000 per cent upsurge in asylum claims from Mexican nationals. Approximately 3,300 asylum claims were made by Mexican visitors.
In April 2019, True North also reported that nearly half of those crossing illegally into the US from Canada were Mexican.
