Apprehensions surged 1,165% in one Border Patrol sector
Summary
Total apprehensions along the U.S.-Canada border rose 277% from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2024, but nearly all of that growth came from a single place: Vermont's Swanton sector, where apprehensions rose 1,165% -- from 1,563 to 19,773 -- while the other seven northern-border sectors combined saw apprehensions fall. GAO's June 30, 2026 testimony found Border Patrol staffing didn't keep pace: even though authorized positions on the northern border grew 9% over that period, the number of agents actually on board fell 6%, pushing the northern border's staffing rate down from 90% to 78% -- below the 90% rate GAO found on the southwest border in fiscal 2024. The surveillance-monitoring staff are thinnest exactly where the surge hit hardest: Swanton's Law Enforcement Information Systems Specialist staffing rate, 57%, is the lowest of any northern-border sector, and a senior Border Patrol official told GAO the agency has no plan to improve it -- it expects those staff to leave for better opportunities. Vehicle incursions across the northern border rose 540% from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2024. GAO's 2019 recommendations for northern-border-specific performance measures remain unimplemented; Border Patrol doesn't expect new measures until fiscal 2027.
One sector, nearly all of the surge
Vermont's Swanton sector went from 1,563 apprehensions in FY2019 to 19,773 in FY2024⧉ -- a 1,165% increase that left it responsible for 79% of all northern-border apprehensions, up from 24% five years earlier. Blaine, on the Washington-British Columbia line, also grew sharply (+390%). Every other sector fell: apprehensions in the remaining six sectors combined dropped 49%, from 4,455 to 2,255.
View data as table
| Swanton | 1,165% |
|---|---|
| Blaine | 390% |
| Houlton | 11% |
| Havre | -48% |
| Buffalo | -31% |
| Detroit | -59% |
| Grand Forks | -59% |
| Spokane | -73% |
Staffing didn't keep pace
Authorized Border Patrol positions on the northern border grew from 2,306 to 2,512⧉ over the same five years, about 9%. But the number of agents actually on board fell from 2,073 to 1,948, about 6% -- pushing the northern border's staffing rate (on-board agents as a share of authorized positions) from 90% down to 78%. found the southwest border's staffing rate stood at 90% that same year. Air and Marine Operations agents near the northern border fell too, from 162 to 147, even as flight and float hours climbed.
View data as table
| Northern border, FY2019 | 90% |
|---|---|
| Northern border, FY2024 | 78% |
| Southwest border, FY2024 | 90% |
The surge sector has the thinnest surveillance staffing
Northern-border sectors rely on Law Enforcement Information Systems Specialists to monitor camera towers and ground sensors; Border Patrol had filled 77% of those positions⧉ bureau-wide as of FY2024. Swanton's rate was 57% -- the lowest of any sector, in the sector seeing the most activity. A senior Border Patrol workforce-planning official told the agency has no plan to improve recruitment or retention for the position, and expects staff to leave for better opportunities. recommended a workforce plan in February 2026; agreed and estimates completion by January 2027.
More incursions, and old recommendations still pending
Reported vehicle incursions across the northern border rose from 48 in FY2021 to 307 in FY2024⧉, up 540%. Meanwhile, 's 2019 recommendations that Border Patrol and AMO build performance measures specific to the northern border remain open: Border Patrol doesn't expect to implement new measures until fiscal year 2027, and is still gathering information on AMO's plan. has billions in new hiring money on the way -- $4.1 billion from the 2025 reconciliation law, plus $9.55 billion and over $13 billion more from the June 2026 Secure America Act -- but none of it is earmarked specifically for closing the northern border's staffing gap.
View data as table
| FY2021 | 48 |
|---|---|
| FY2024 | 307 |
The takeaway
- One sector explains almost the entire northern-border apprehension surge. Swanton, Vermont rose 1,165% (1,563 to 19,773) while the other seven sectors combined declined -- concentrating 79% of all northern-border apprehensions in one place, up from 24% in FY2019.
- Staffing moved the wrong direction as the surge hit. On-board Border Patrol agents fell 6% even as authorized positions grew 9%, dropping the northern border's staffing rate from 90% to 78% -- 12 points below the southwest border's FY2024 rate.
- The busiest sector has the weakest surveillance-monitoring staffing, and no plan to fix it. Swanton's 57% Law Enforcement Information Systems Specialist staffing rate is the lowest on the northern border; a senior official told the agency simply expects those staff to leave.
All findings are from -26-109195, testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security's Border Security and Enforcement and Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittees, delivered and publicly released June 30, 2026 -- read directly in full (19 pages), drawing on 's June 2019 report (-19-470) and February 2026 report (-26-107501). Apprehension and staffing figures cover fiscal years 2019 through 2024 unless otherwise noted; vehicle-incursion figures cover fiscal years 2021 through 2024, the period for which reported comparable data.
Sources(1) ▾
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Resources Deployed and Challenges Faced in Securing the Northern Border (2026-06-30) — -26-109195, testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security's Border Security and Enforcement and Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittees, delivered and publicly released June 30, 2026, based on 's June 2019 report (-19-470) and February 2026 report (-26-107501) on 's northern-border operations. Read the full 19-page PDF directly (extracted with pdftotext -layout) -- the sector-by-sector apprehension table, exact staffing headcounts, and vehicle-incursion figures are only in the full testimony, not the Highlights summary. gao.gov · original document
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Total Border Patrol apprehensions along the northern border rose 277% from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2024⧉, from 6,618 to 24,968, according to 's June 30, 2026 testimony. Almost none of that growth was spread evenly: it came overwhelmingly from one of Border Patrol's eight northern-border sectors.