CARIBOU, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 on May 10, 2023.
Twenty Mexican nationals were taken into custody by border agents Thursday after crossing the U.S.-Canadian border into Minnesota.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency said in a statement that the 20 migrants —ranging in ages from 3 to 43 — were stopped near Caribou, Minnesota.
The statement went on to say Kittson County Sheriff's Office officials contacted border agents after seeing "multiple people walking south" from the Canadian border, in addition to two vehicles that were also in the area. When agents arrived, the statement said, they found the 20 migrants who agents said entered the country illegally.
Authorities also discovered that the drivers of the two vehicles, which were first stopped by Kittson County deputies, were Guatemalan citizens.
CBP said the migrants were taken to the Pembina Border Patrol Station, in Pembina, North Dakota, where they were transferred into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and placed into removal proceedings.
According to reporting from KARE 11's Danny Spewak, in the most recent six-month data period in Fiscal Year 2023, the Border Patrol Grand Forks Sector reported 100 encounters with migrants from October 2022 through March 2023 — a figure already surpassing the entire total from the previous fiscal year. Seventy percent of the people apprehended have been natives of Mexico, who can fly to Canada without a visa and then make a crossing attempt into the U.S.
Last month, Border Patrol agents rescued several men from Mexico crossing into northern Minnesota near Warroad, where they became stuck in frozen floodwaters.
The pandemic-era Title 42 policies expired Thursday, making way for new asylum restrictions from the Biden administration to officially take effect. Broadly speaking, the new policies will require migrants to either apply online to make a scheduled asylum claim at an official port of entry, or they will be required to seek asylum in the previous country they traveled through before reaching the U.S.
Xavier Ruiz, a patrol agent for the Pembina station who previously spent time working in Honduras and on the southern border, told Spewak he expects irregular border crossings to increase further in the coming months.
"I can tell you from my time down in Central America, a lot of it has to do with economics, lack of opportunity, lack of education and lack of jobs. Promises of a better life here," Ruiz said. "A lot of migrants come here with the specific purpose of working here, getting paid and then sending that money back to their country. It's a vicious cycle."
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: