U.S. Sen. Susan Collins has joined a bipartisan group of senators in introducing the Northern Border Security Enhancement and Review Act, which aims to bolster security along the U.S.-Canada border.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), comes in response to growing concerns over illegal crossings and transnational criminal activity along the northern border. The bill mandates the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to update its “Northern Border Threat Analysis” every three years and its Northern Border Strategy every five years, a move lawmakers say is necessary to improve security efforts and law enforcement coordination along the 5,525-mile border.
“This bipartisan bill would strengthen security, improve coordination, and help ensure we have the resources needed to protect our northern border effectively,” Collins said.
“By improving data collection and oversight of threats and enforcement efforts, this bipartisan bill would strengthen security, improve coordination, and help to ensure we have the resources needed to protect our northern border effectively,” she said.
Despite much of the national attention going to illegal crossings at the southern border, Maine has one of the largest international borders of all the states, including a 611-mile land border with Quebec and New Brunswick, as well as a maritime border that is 3,478 miles long—or 228 miles, depending on how you measure it.
Both the land and ocean borders fall within the protective area of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has jurisdiction 100 miles in from any border, which effectively includes the entire populated state of Maine.
Maine’s border has seen an uptick in attempted illegal crossings, including by individuals with known ties to transnational organized crime. Over the past six years, illegal aliens have been arrested and deported for their involvement in drug trafficking, sex and human trafficking, financial scams, and a host of other crimes exploiting Mainers.
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In Feb. 2024, three Chinese nationals connected to the Chinese marijuana growing syndicates proliferating throughout rural Maine where apprehended attempting to cross the border illegally and enter a waiting getaway vehicle.
According to a CBP official, a driver from New York, also a Chinese national who is already in deportation proceedings, was also arrested and suspected of attempting to further the illegal entry.
A few months prior to that incident, 20 Romanian illegal aliens violently stormed the Maine-Canada border port of entry in Hodgdon.
According to a statement from Collins at the time, 18 of the 20 illegal aliens were simply released into the interior of the country by the Biden Administration.
The last Northern Border Threat Analysis, conducted in 2017, found that while encounters with individuals linked to transnational crime or terrorism not as frequent as at the southern border, the northern border’s vast and remote terrain provided opportunities for illicit activity.
According to the 2017 assessment, the most significant public safety threat at the northern border is drug smuggling, with cocaine and methamphetamine moving north into Canada and fentanyl moving into the United States. The report also noted that criminal organizations have exploited the northern border’s maritime regions, using small aircraft and recreational boats to evade detection.
The push for updated threat assessments comes as illegal crossings at the northern border have risen sharply, according to DHS encounter data. The most recent figures show that illegal migrant encounters at the northern border have increased significantly in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, with tens of thousands of apprehensions reported annually.
The latest data indicates a sharp rise in single adult crossings, with more than 189,000 encounters recorded in FY 2024, compared to 147,000 in FY 2022. These numbers, while still lower than those at the southern border, mark a notable trend that has placed additional strain on CBP resources.
Legislation’s Key Provisions
Beyond updating security assessments, the bill requires DHS to:
- Conduct sector-level reviews of northern border apprehensions to identify shifting migration patterns.
- Implement Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations within 180 days to measure the effectiveness of CBP’s Air and Marine Operations at securing the northern border.
- Provide classified briefings to congressional committees within 30 days of each new threat analysis.
In her statement about the bill, Sen. Collins emphasized that the unique challenges of northern border enforcement require tailored security policies, adding that the bill would help improve data collection, resource allocation, and law enforcement coordination.
The bill has gained support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and is expected to undergo committee review in the coming weeks. If passed, it would mark the first update to the Northern Border Threat Analysis since 2017.
According to an investigation by the Maine Wire, small town police departments have been involved in a smattering of immigration enforcement cases, typically traffic stops that lead to CBP involvement due ton indications that the drivers or their passengers are present in the U.S. illegally.
An Oct. 2023 police report obtained by the Maine Wire details an incident in which a traffic stop by a Fort Fairfield police officer led CBP to detain a group of Jordanian nationals who had entered the country illegally.
According to the police report, the operator of the vehicle, Bahaa Karazoun, gave evasive and contradictory answers to the police officer. The officer further observed passengers in the vehicle cover in pine needles and forest debris, as if they’d recently crawled through the woods.
The officer, along with a CBP agent, eventually arrested Karazoun, who claimed not to know the passengers in the vehicle, whom he was allegedly picking up for a friend in Ohio. Those passengers — identified as Mutasem Makableh, Awni Alzyod, Anas Abdelraheem, and Hussein Slaiti — were arrested by CBP and a large amount of $100 bills was seized from the vehicle.
In a Jan. 10, 2024 incident, a Madawaska police officer caught an allegedly intoxicated Guatemalan illegal alien speeding.
In a separate Jan. 20, 2024 incident, also in Madawaska, a Guatemalan illegal alien driving a defective vehicle was arrested along with three passengers — all of them in the country illegally.
The police officer initiated a traffic stop and identified the operator as Julio Cesar Dubon De La Rosa.
“Julio only had Guatemalan identification and could not speak English,” the report states. The other three occupants could not speak English. I informed dispatch to contact border patrol. Border Patrol arrived on scene and identified the occupants were all illegal
immigrants. Border Patrol took all four into custody,” the report stated.
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Must be up for midterms. Not a chance collins, you suck.
She is panicking. Why now Suaie, you have been in Congress how long and now you notice we need secure borders?
Collins also backs getting rid of DOGE and Elon Musk. Time to primary her ass out of that seat with a MAGA Senate candidate.
Too little too late. The weasels have slowly infiltrated our society for decades. The strategic foolishness of closing down Limestone and Brunswick Navel Air base is evident. New England has become an easy target for evil with plenty of encouragement from the dirt bags within.
We can’t hear you, Susan. The president is already on top of this problem. You should be convincing your bipartisan friends to sign the safety in girls sports act. You hopping on the current obvious problem of the day isn’t fooling anybody. Hopefully can primary you out with a MAGA candidate if the RNC and their friends would finally pour some money in here so we can have an alternative.
Susan, Where were you 4 yrs ago when we needed you most? Oh yeah, snuggling with the Joe Brandon, Maine elected a Democrat posing as an independent, & a democrat posing as a Republican.
I will vote for ANYONE but Susan Collins .
She has betrayed the Republican Party for far too long .
Bye Bye Susan Collins .
The only time the four people in Washington who represent Maine do ANYTHING is when they are up for reelection. Mainers have you figured this out yet?
Golden who is a hypocrite and communist suddenly cares about girls in sports and Ukraine. Mainers are you going to get a clue finally or just keep doing the same thing over and over? Your past record proves you will keep repeating your foolish behavior from the past. Prove me wrong!
A little too late to be involved in what’s happening in Maine , right Sue? This is probably just the tip of the iceberg…. there’s also corrupt politicians, courts, drugs, CPS, child trafficking??? Anyway, thanks for making it seem like you care….
She must have invested HEAVILY in something that is going to be instituted for security , As in she makes MONEY , Remember she took PAY OFFS from Sam Bankman Fried . There is level she won’t lower herself too
Aren’t those ” only” two terms up yet?
Backpedaling by Collins means she is up for re-selection again…
Unless there is a decent republican challenger in a primary, best stick with Collins. Remember: the democrat (or fake independent, like King) alternative will be MUCH worse….