(The Center Square) – In April, 113 illegal foreign nationals from 16 countries were arrested in Maine, the greatest number in one month in nearly 24 years, Houlton Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Craig Shepley said.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Houlton Sector covers 611 miles of shared international land border between Maine and Canada and more than 3,500 miles of coast patrolled by U.S. federal agents.
The record number of apprehensions is a direct result of “expanded United States Border Patrol enforcement throughout the state,” Shepley said, not because a greater number of foreign nationals illegally entered Maine from Canada.
“Due to the significant increase in arrests,” Houlton Sector agents coordinated air transport with Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Enforcement Removal Operations (ICE ERO) for 29 illegal foreign nationals from Portland to other parts of the country to process them for removal.
“Here in Maine, Border Patrol Agents are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep our border secure,” Shepley said while also posting a video of their transport. The video shows young men wearing shackles on their feet, hands behind their back, boarding a plane.
As is the case nationwide, the majority of apprehended illegal border crossers are single adults, and most are male.
Under the Trump administration, expanded efforts by Houlton Sector agents are underway to identify, locate and arrest “criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.” Agents have also found that “the majority of illegal aliens encountered in Maine crossed the southwest border in previous years,” Shepley said.
However, Houlton Sector agents, along with others in 14 northern border states, apprehended record numbers of illegal border crossers from Canada under the Biden administration, according to new data published by CBP, The Center Square reported.
For fiscal years 2022 through 2024 and three months of fiscal 2025, nearly 701,000 illegal border crosser apprehensions/encounters were reported in the 14 northern border states.
Nearly half of all northern border apprehensions were reported in New York, followed by Washington, Vermont, Maine and Montana. During this time-period, the Houlton Sector reported 57,058 apprehensions/encounters, according to the data.
As the border crisis worsened under the Biden administration, illegal northern border entries increased, with the greatest numbers ever reported in 2024 in recorded history in Montana, Maine, North Dakota and Washington, according to the data.
This changed after President Donald Trump entered office in January.
In February, Trump for the first time in U.S. history declared a national emergency at the northern border, also ordering the U.S. military to implement border security measures there, The Center Square reported.
Since Trump’s been in office, illegal border crossings dropped and northern border apprehensions decreased as they have nationwide.
At the beginning of the fiscal year in October, northern border apprehensions totaled 15,207; in April, they totaled 4,835, excluding gotaways.
Fiscal year to date, northern border apprehensions totaled 57,303, accounting for roughly 10% of the total number of apprehensions nationwide, according to CBP data.
Shepley also notes that “illegal entries crossing the international border between Canada and the United States have decreased in Maine,” attributing it to “strong partnerships, consequence delivery, and a back-to-basics approach balancing personnel, technology, and infrastructure to secure the border.”