U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced this week that 38 Ports of Entry along the border with Canada will adjust their hours in January. Officials in New York state are not pleased about the reductions at a time when illegal crossings are increasing.
Working in conjunction with its Canadian counterpart, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, will reduce the operating hours of the Chateauguay, Trout River, Rouses Point and Overton Corners crossings in New York effective January 6th. Border agents will be reassigned to busier ports of entry. The agency says affected travelers will be able to access crossings “within a reasonable driving distance.”
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray says New York state got word a couple days before the official announcement and strenuously objected to the cuts.
“We have been asking for more border patrol agents. We need more border patrol resources along our northern border. Last year Governor Hochul directed an additional $5 million to support increased security, more state police troopers up there, more state police investigators, more license plate readers, more drone activity, more hand-held x-ray machines. Because we have seen an increase in illegal crossings along the northern border and this decision by border patrol to reduce the number of folks that they have up there, reduce the number of hours, you know it strikes us as really counter to what we need to see from out federal partners,” Bray says.
State Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, a Democrat from the 115th District, which abuts the Canadian border, says he is dismayed by the decision.
“These closures will affect commercial traffic coming through. Any kind of disruption with those crossings will have a negative effect on residents on both sides of the border,” Jones says. “Not to mention, we saw the negative effects that this had during the COVID years. We had a border closure for almost two years and now we’re piling on top of that reduced hours at some facilities that are making major upgrades as well.”
Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, issued a statement outlining her strong opposition to CBP’s decision to reduce operating hours at the four New York border crossings. Commissioner Bray says the Swanton sector, which extends across Vermont and New York, has seen about 19,000 irregular crossings this year.
“And that is much, much higher than what we see in a regular year. It’s been increasing for several years. You know, I think that we have seen really strong, good action at our southern border over the last year to reduce the amount of unauthorized migration across our southern border. We haven’t seen anywhere near the same level of resources to address challenges at the northern border and Governor Hochul’s been really clear that that needs to change,” notes Bray.
New York state Senator Dan Stec, a Republican from the 45th District, issued a statement late Thursday saying he is outraged by the CBP decision, adding “you can’t have a part-time border.”
