Illegal crossings at northern border sector reach 'record-breaking milestone'



Illegal immigrant crossings at a northern border sector reached a "record-breaking milestone" last month, according to Border Patrol Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia.

Garcia wrote in a social media post on Tuesday that the Swanton Sector experienced a significant increase in illegal alien encounters.

"Another record-breaking milestone in northern border history! Swanton Sector continues to encounter an unprecedented number of undocumented migrants, with well over 1,400 apprehensions in the month of April, surpassing the total number of apprehensions of FY 21 and FY 22 combined," he stated.

Another record-breaking milestone in northern border history!Swanton Sector continues to encounter an unprecedented number of undocumented migrants,\u00a0with well over 1,400 apprehensions\u00a0in the month of April, surpassing the total number of apprehensions of FY 21 and FY 22 combined.
— (@)

'It was a flood we had never seen before.'

The sector witnessed 365 encounters in fiscal year 2021 and 1,065 in 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection data. The following year, that number skyrocketed to 6,925. Over the first seven months of fiscal year 2024, the Swanton Sector has already executed more than 6,500 illegal alien apprehensions. This year is on track to far outpace 2023's record-breaking stats.

From April 28 through May 4, the sector apprehended 492 illegal immigrants, Garcia noted.

"Since 1924, the U.S. Border Patrol has been entrusted with safeguarding the American homeland. Despite a century of changes, Swanton Sector's commitment to upholding our core values of vigilance, integrity and service to country has remained constant," Garcia stated in an April post on X.

The Swanton Sector comprises eight stations that support several counties in New York and New Hampshire and the entire state of Vermont. The area includes 295 miles of border, including 203 miles of land and 92 miles of water boundary.

Champlain Border Patrol agents, who cover one of the sector's eight stations, detained 220 illegal immigrants over just one week in April. The prior month, the station apprehended 158 illegal aliens from 14 different countries, Garcia stated.

Erik Lavallee, the Border Patrol agent in charge of the U.S. Border Patrol Beecher Falls Station in the Swanton Sector, told WBZ-TV in March, "It was a flood we had never seen before. It was an exponential shift, something we were not expecting, and it just hit us hard."

"We understand completely that the northern border issues versus the southern border issues are apples and oranges. However, that being said, having been up in this sector for almost 20 years, I have never seen anything like it," he added.

According to Border Patrol, the vast majority of illegal immigrants crossing the northern border are from India, Bangladesh, Haiti, and Venezuela.

Lavallee told WBZ that most of the illegal aliens are single adult men, many of whom are involved in human smuggling.

"We know there are multiple organizations that are utilizing Canada to smuggle individuals into the United States," he stated.

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Leftist lawmakers propose using gender-neutral language in the US law for the sake of 'gender equity' and LGBT inclusivity



Several left-wing lawmakers are pushing a measure meant to make the U.S. law more gender neutral by removing some gender-specific language.

Democratic Reps. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Robert Garcia of California introduced the measure, according to press releases.

"In 2023 it is unacceptable that the U.S. code perpetuates sexist social structures and reinforces gender stereotypes and social discrimination," Lee said, according to her press release. "The Equality in Our Laws Act will enshrine gender equality into the U.S. Code and send a clear message that we won’t be silenced by the right wing politicians, judges, and media goons waging a full-on assault on women and queer folks."

The press releases indicate that, as an example, language such as the pronoun "he" could be swapped out for "the Secretary" in the context of the leader of a federal agency.

The measure "would enshrine gender equity in the US legal code by replacing masculine generics with gender neutral language. Additionally, this key change would make the U.S. Code more inclusive to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially gender- nonconforming, nonbinary, and intersex individuals," Rep. Lee's press release states.

The measure would "authorize/direct the Office of Law Revision Counsel (OLRC) to make non-substantive, gender-neutral revisions to the non-positive law portions of the Code," according to a one-pager about the measure that also indicates the legislation would "Direct OLRC to prepare a draft bill that makes non-substantive, gender-neutral revisions to the positive law portions of the Code."

Some gender-specific language would be permitted to remain, such as for laws that specifically pertain to women.

"Some laws, such as the Violence Against Women Act and the statute establishing the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program, use gender specific language to create rights and protections. OLRC would be prohibited from amending any portion of the Code where gender affects the substance, meaning or interpretation of the federal law," the one-pager states.

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