Lawmakers sound alarm on northern border security, drug seizures

Republican lawmakers say Mexican cartels, known suspected terrorists, and drugs are pouring into the country not only at the U.S. southern border, but at the U.S. northern border, as well. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data updated on Aug. 12 shows the number of drug seizures along the northern border in July reached 820, the highest reported in at least three years of monthly data.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said the tightening of security at the southern border has created a vacuum for cartels to enter the country from Canada.

“The northern border is now a hot spot for terror suspects, for drug cartels,” Barrasso said on the Senate floor in April 2025. “In the Biden administration, we’d come to the floor and talk about how many terror suspects were captured coming across the southern border. The number is astonishing now at the northern border. The cartels got the message.”

Democrats push back on ‘security theater’

Michigan Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow called Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s June visit to Michigan “security theater.” Noem visited the Wolverine State to talk about border security with Canada.

“These kinds of theatrics do nothing to make us safer. But it’s worse than that. They actually make us less safe,” McMorrow said in a video posted to X. “When immigrants across our state are being targeted just because they’re immigrants, they’re going to be less likely to work with police, less likely to work with law enforcement officers, less likely to call 911 if they see a situation, less likely to work with criminal investigators.”

Fentanyl seizures and tariffs on Canada

According to data from CBP, between April and July, federal authorities seized 63 pounds of fentanyl at various points along the U.S. northern border. That number significantly increased after the Trump administration implemented measures aimed at securing the U.S. southern border.

To put it in perspective, only a total of 59 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the northern border between October 2022 and September 2024.

Because of the increase, Trump signed an executive order on July 31 increasing the tariff on Canada to 35%. The executive order claims “Canada has failed to cooperate in curbing the ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.”

“In response to Canada’s continued inaction and retaliation, President Trump has found it necessary to increase the tariff on Canada from 25% to 35% to effectively address the existing emergency,” Trump’s order from July 31 states.

Since October 2024, there were 74,476 encounters at the U.S. northern border compared to 639,826 at the U.S. southern border.

And since October 2023, there was a total of 462,807 encounters in the 13 states that border Canada. For the southern border, there were 6,742,112 encounters during that same time period.

‘Known or suspected terrorists’

In addition to fentanyl, FBI Director Kash Patel said in May that the majority of encounters with individuals with known or suspected ties to terrorist organizations had occurred at the northern U.S. border. In the 12 months ending in September 2024, DHS reported 358 encounters at the northern border and 52 at the southern border.

“The sheer tyranny of distance of the northern border and the lack of cooperation from federal authorities in prior administrations to actually firm up that northern border is what’s causing a continuation of violent crime,” Patel told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo.

The DHS statistic of “known or suspected terrorists,” or KSTs, has been debated. There is no differentiation between encountering three different individuals named on the list or encountering the same person three times.