Undocumented migrants caught at Canada border flown to Texas for CBP processing

Custom Border Patrol agents are flying undocumented migrants caught on the U.S.-Canada border to Texas in an effort to deter migrants from attempting to cross the border illegally. 

This month alone, authorities have transported more than 100 migrants on two charter flights from the U.S.-Canada Border to Texas, according to an investigation by Reuters. 

The first flight transported 48 migrants from Plattsburgh, New York to Harlingen Texas on March 13, according to a CBP official. A second flight allegedly relocated around 50 migrants from Plattsburgh to El Paso, Texas on March 21. 

A third flight is expected next week, according to Thomas Cartwright, an advocate with Witness at the Border, a group that tracks U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) charter flight. 

The flights come as the number of undocumented migrants crossing the U.S.-Canada border has dramatically increased in the past few months.

CBP agents have apprehended more than 2,900 undocumented migrants at the U.S.-Canada border since October. The figure for the past five months has already surpassed the number of migrants apprehended in the entire fiscal year of 2022. 

The surge comes as many migrants, predominantly from Mexico, are opting to fly from Mexico to Canada and then attempting to cross into the U.S. from the north, where authorities are less likely to turn them away. 

To enforce operations on the northern border, the U.S. Border Patrol transferred several agents from other locations. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to address the immigration crisis during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden this Thursday and Friday in Ottowa, Canada.