Shaheen urges Homeland Security secretary to release New Hampshire-specific northern border data
Shaheen also asked Department of Homeland Security to increase funding at northern border
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is urging the Department of Homeland Security to release New Hampshire-specific data on illegal crossings at the northern border.
Sen. Shaheen said having New Hampshire-specific numbers could help make sure border security and law enforcement needs are being met.
“We can't fully address the problem until we know the extent to which it's an issue,” Shaheen said on CloseUp.
Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows an increase in migrant encounters at the northern border from last year to now.
In 2022, CBP said there were 1,065 crossings across the Swanton Sector, which includes all of Vermont and parts of New Hampshire and New York.
CBP said 387 occurred in New Hampshire or Vermont.
So far this year, data shows there have been nearly 6,925 crossings across the sector and 1,551 of those happened either in New Hampshire or in Vermont.
“Right now, they lump in together the crossings from Vermont and New Hampshire, but we identify them independently, so we could disaggregate that information. And why CBP is not willing to do that is something that is not acceptable,” Shaheen said.
The American Civil Liberties Union recently sued for that data.
Shaheen said the data could help make sure that border security and law enforcement needs are being met.
In addition, Shaheen also asked the Department of Homeland Security to increase funding at the northern border, given that crossings were increasing at the Swanton Sector.
“We also need to address those border agents who have been called to the southern border. We need to get them back in the northern border," Shaheen said.
Last month, Gov. Chris Sununu and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella announced a new state task force aimed at increasing security along the border.
"It's a particular issue when we have legal immigrants who are coming into the country who we want to come in and settle, and we have a workforce shortage in New Hampshire and across this country where we know that there are jobs for those legal immigrants,” Shaheen said. “So we ought to be able to address what's happening in the border."
The Homeland Security secretary is expected to appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, which Sen. Shaheen is a member of.
The attorney general's office said no one from the northern border task force has been sent up to the border yet.
News 9 has reached out to CBP, but has not heard back.
