Senator Hassan Visits Northern Border, Receives Update on Security Challenges

BERLIN – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, received a security briefing and took an aerial tour with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the evolving threats in the Swanton Sector of the Northern border. The Swanton Sector covers portions of the U.S.-Canada border in New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, and there has been a significant increase in attempted border crossings in this area over the last year.

Senator Hassan received an operations update and report for the Swanton Sector from CBP, including challenges that CBP is facing and the need for additional personnel and technology to tackle the recent increase in crossings. Senator Hassan was also briefed by CBP’s Office of Field Operations about drug smuggling patterns for the region. After the briefing, Senator Hassan was taken on an aerial tour of the sector by CBP’s Air and Marine Operations.

“Strengthening security at the Northern border is an important part of our overall national security,” said Senator Hassan. “I appreciated hearing directly from Border Patrol officials about the challenges that they are facing and what they need to better address them. I will continue working to support law enforcement at the border and keep our communities safe.”

“I want to thank Senator Hassan for her continued support of US Customs and Border Protection’s work throughout the Swanton Sector, and we appreciated the opportunity to provide her an update on our efforts to keep our Northern border safe and secure,” said US Customs and Border Protection Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert N. Garcia.

This visit is part of Senator Hassan’s ongoing efforts to strengthen border security. Senator Hassan has visited both the Northern and Southern border several times as a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Recently, Senator Hassan introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen security at the Northern border by requiring regular updates to the Northern Border strategy. In August, the Senate Homeland Security Committee advanced bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Hassan to allow U.S. and Canadian personnel to jointly patrol both sides of the Northern border on aircraft, helping better combat drug smuggling and other illegal cross-border activities. Earlier this year, the Homeland Security Committee voted to advance two of Senator Hassan’s bipartisan bills to reduce the flow of fentanyl, illicit firearms, and money across both directions of the Southern border. Additionally, in March, Senator Hassan’s bipartisan END FENTANYL Act, which will help Customs and Border Protection crack down on fentanyl trafficking at the border, was signed into law. Senator Hassan also worked with her colleagues to pass into law the bipartisan INTERDICT Act, which has provided Customs and Border Protection with additional tools to help detect and intercept fentanyl and other illegal synthetic opioids.

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