So, you thought all the border chaos was happening down south, did you? Well, surprise! The northern border is also breaking records, and it’s not exactly the kind you want to boast about. While the southern border has been hogging all the headlines with its nonstop surge of illegal crossings, the northern border has quietly been setting its own eye-popping records.

In under ten months, the busiest U.S. Customs and Border Protection sector along the northern border, known as the Swanton Sector, saw Border Patrol agents apprehend 15,000 individuals from 85 different countries who illegally crossed the border from Canada – setting a record for the highest number ever recorded in such a time frame.

For a little perspective, back in fiscal 2021, the Swanton Sector apprehended just 365 illegal border crossers. But this fiscal year (which ends on September 30), the number of apprehensions has blown past the combined totals of the last 13 fiscal years. That’s right—13 years’ worth of border busts has been topped in just one year.

To put that in even more eye-popping terms, those 15,000 illegal border crossers are equivalent to the size of 15 U.S. Army battalions. Apparently, foreign nationals are flocking to Canada from all over the globe—85 countries in total—before making their way to the U.S. border, where they try their luck in the Swanton Sector. This sector spans across all of Vermont, parts of upstate New York, and sections of New Hampshire, covering 295 miles of international boundary with Quebec and Ontario.

This surge isn’t just a flash in the pan. Last year, the Swanton Sector had already broken records by apprehending over 6,700 foreign nationals from 76 countries. But this year, that number has more than doubled, and the list of countries has grown even longer.

Those sneaking into the U.S. from Canada aren’t just your run-of-the-mill border crossers—they’re coming from an eclectic mix of places like Afghanistan, Albania, China, Russia, and even countries you might have to look up on a map, like Eswatini and Papua New Guinea. The Swanton Sector has documented these entries, proving that our northern border has become a global hotspot for illegal crossings.

Even though the Biden-Harris administration keeps insisting that U.S. borders are secure and that numbers are down compared to the Trump era, the reality on the ground tells a different story. Residents in Derby, Vermont, are experiencing firsthand the unsettling new normal: illegal foreign nationals traipsing through their backyards at all hours after crossing from Canada.

It’s reminiscent of what’s happening in Texas. Like their southern counterparts, residents near the northern border are capturing trespassers on home surveillance cameras as they sneak through their property in the dead of night, waiting to be picked up by someone nearby. Border Patrol agents have warned people not to get involved—these border crossers might be armed and dangerous. And we’re not just talking about harmless wanderers; some of these individuals, referred to as “gotaways,” are deliberately evading capture, and many have criminal backgrounds.

While the Swanton Sector is feeling the brunt of this surge, the entire northern border has seen record-breaking numbers of illegal entries and apprehensions, with 162,865 recorded so far,this fiscal year. That follows last year’s record-breaking 190,000 apprehensions, the highest in U.S. history.

Illegal entries at the northern border are continuing to soar, raising alarms among both U.S. and Canadian officials about potential terrorist threats. Since fiscal 2021, almost 1,100 known or suspected terrorists have been caught trying to waltz into the U.S. from Canada. Nationwide, that number jumps to over 1,700—breaking records like it’s an Olympic event.

While some Canadian officials might want to paint a rosy picture of the Canada-U.S. border being the most secure in the world, not everyone is buying it. Members of Congress, U.S. officials, and even some Canadians are increasingly sounding the alarm about what’s really going on up north.