Agents with U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) say they’ve uncovered a sophisticated human smuggling ring as a surge of migrants has crossed the U.S. border with Canada this year. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows there were nearly 198,000 migrant encounters at the northern border in fiscal year 2024 — seven times higher than 2021.
HSI Special Agent Robert Hammer told ABC News that thousands of people, many from India, are paying anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 to be smuggled into the United States. Homeland Security said they are ordering Uber rides that are being marketed in their country for illegal entry.
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Investigators found 17 linked Uber accounts that ordered over 600 rides, racking up more than $80,000 in charges.
Since the border restrictions were lifted in 2022 following the pandemic, encounters along the northern border have skyrocketed.
In Washington state’s Blaine sector alone, there’s been a 500% jump, according to Chief Border Agent Rosario Vasquez.
CBP data also shows officers encountered 564 people on the terror watchlist at land ports along the northern border in fiscal year 2023 — up from 157 in 2021. This number fell to 410 in 2024, but still exceeded the count of watch-listed individuals encountered at southern border ports that year by more than six times.
Immigration and America’s borders have been a hot-button issue for voters in the upcoming presidential election.
Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for the influx of undocumented immigrants, while Vice President Kamala Harris blames Trump for a failed Senate border security bill that would’ve provided millions of dollars in funding for Border Patrol.
