For the first time since 2010, U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in Vermont, New Hampshire and northeastern New York increased in the past year.
According to statistics released Friday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in fiscal year 2017 - covering October 2016 through September 2017 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended 449 people in the area it calls the "Swanton Sector," which covers counties on or near the U.S.-Canadian border in New Hampshire, Vermont and part of New York.
The Swanton Sector's number of apprehensions in FY17 is a 54 percent increase from the previous year, when 291 people were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol. Still the number is significantly lower than the early 2000s, when more than 1,500 people were apprehended each year.
The increase in apprehensions can be attributed to "a more pro-active enforcement posture over the last year," wrote Stephanie Malin, a spokesperson for U.S Custom and Border Protection, in an email. Malin adds that "posture" includes "increased checkpoint operations and transportation checks. We have also increased our intelligence capabilities which has resulted in improved targeting of Transnational Criminal Organizations."
According to Malin, apprehensions are when an individual is temporarily detained or controlled by an agent outside an official entry point to the United States.
The statistics released Friday also noted that at all of the official entry points throughout New England, 4,788 people were denied entry to the United States in the past year.
