The general prosecutor of the United States, Pam Bondi, says that trafficking in human beings on the border with Canada is getting worse, and that traffickers turn north following the repression led by the Trump administration on the border with Mexico.
“The northern border has always been the case, but the situation has won considerably and has increased a lot, (…) It is trafficking in drugs, weapons and human beings that weighs several billion dollars,” said Mme Bonded at a press conference in Tampa, Florida.
Mme Bondi has announced that the Alpha’s joint processing force, a multi -ogitation initiative aimed at ending human trafficking, has been extended to cover the Canadian-American border and the United States’s maritime borders.
The comments of Mme Bondi intervene a week after his meeting in Washington with the Minister of Justice, Sean Fraser, the Minister of Public Security, Gary Anandasangaree, and the “Tsar du Fentanyl”, Kevin Brosseau, on August 27 to discuss the common border, in the context of Ottawa’s efforts to find a way of customs rights imposed by the President, Donald Trump.
According to a meeting of this meeting, Canadian officials underlined the continuous efforts of Canada to ensure the safety of communities “on both sides of our common border in the fight against fentanyl and transnational criminal organizations, to strengthen the criminal justice system and border security”.
The White House tenant increased customs duties on Canada at 35 % in August, invoking border security and Ottawa retaliatory rights as a justification.
These customs duties do not apply to goods in accordance with the original rules of the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement.
Ottawa made numerous investments to strengthen border security, and Prime Minister Mark Carney presented a large -scale border law in June.
The Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC) said Thursday in an email that it had opened 70 files related to human trafficking this year on August 12, with eight accusations in six cases that led to convictions. She said she opened 83 files of this type in 2024 and 57 the previous year.
“We have a solid border and we strengthen it,” said the agency, stressing the more than 355 million which were allocated to it as part of the border plan of the federal government.
The Royal Canada Gendarmerie (RCMP) has not yet responded to the comments of Mme Leap.
The Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC) and the Royal Canada Gendarmerie (RCMP) have not yet responded to the comments of Mme Leap.
US government data shows that the flow of people and drugs on the Canadian-American border represents only a fraction of the volumes observed on the border with Mexico.
American politicians of border states and the customs and border protection service in the United States have, however, reported cases of human trafficking on the Canadian-American border in recent years, some of which have resulted in deaths.
Mme Bondi quoted the case of four members of an Indian family, killed by the cold while they were trying to cross the Canadian-American border in 2022. Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife Vauliben Patel, 37, their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi, and their three-year-old son, Dharmik, were found in a field of Manitoba, a few meters from the American border.
Mme Bondi stressed that the police in certain regions of the Vermont and the State of New York noted “unprecedented trafficking in illegal immigrants”.
“The agents of the police operating in these regions have met foreigners from 97 different countries, including China, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea and Yemen,” she said.
The press conference highlighted the charge of a woman from Michigan who, last year, had people, of whom children, from central America in the United States by the Canadian-American border.
The accusation act indicates that, from February to November, Norma Linda Lozano, 53, was part of an organization of smugglers who had the Canadian-American border crossing people from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Salvador.
She would have collaborated with accomplices in Canada to order migrants to cross the border on foot. The accusation act alleged that Lozano recovered them once arrived in the United States.
Norma Linda Lozano was arrested on Tuesday.
Michael Drescher, acting federal prosecutor of the Vermont district, said that smugglers exploit desperate people and put them in dangerous situations.
“On the northern border, these illegal crossings often involve hikes through forests and swamps, under inhospitable and dangerous conditions,” said Drescher.
