Republicans portray the Canadian border as a threat, but US statistics tell a different story
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Republican members of Congress tried to heat up Canada on Tuesday, portraying the northern border as a serious security threat that allows more drugs and illegal immigrants to enter the US.
But when the Republicans in the House bThe security and enforcement subcommittee tried to present evidence that these threats from Canada are increasing, statistics showed otherwise.
Tuesday's hearing on Capitol Hill was titled “Northern Exposure: Assessing the Evolving Threat Landscape at America's Northern Border.”
It began when the chairman of the subcommittee, Mississippi Republican Michael Guest, said that the Trump administration's crackdown on the southern border has prompted Mexican cartels to shift their criminal businesses to the border with Canada.
US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made similar claims in June.
“The illegal crossings have started moving north,” Guest said. “The number of drug seizures on the northern border has been steadily increasing, reaching record levels this year.”
However, Guest and his fellow Republicans on the subcommittee often lacked statistics to back up their rhetoric.
That was clear when the politicians entered their Q&A with several officials representing the institutions of the Ministry of World Security who were called to testify.
Drug seizures at Canadian border 'down 55%'
Jason Schneider, acting chief of the US Border Patrol, described drug smuggling from Canada as a “continuing threat,” but presented statistics that contradict Guest's claim of record drug seizures this year.
“Drugs are caught at the northern border [by] The US Border Patrol is down 55 percent,” Schneider told the court.
Fears of undocumented immigrants in Canada's border regions are also decreasing, Schneider said. They are down 22 percent in the current fiscal year (which began in October) from fiscal year 2025, which itself was down 67 percent from last year.
Still, Republicans insist on investigating threats from Canada.
Congressman Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma raised a potential threat to people with business driver's licenses from Canada.
“Are you concerned or do you see any problems related to commercial drivers, illegal drivers who may use our northern border that may put us at risk of any kind of attack?” Brecheen asked the witnesses.
'Not so much on the northern border'
“I'm not aware of any specific circumstances related to that,” replied Chris Holtzer, who heads the US Customs and Border Protection's field operations office.
“Not that I know,” Schneider added. “We are encountering these subjects in our inspection areas along the southwest border, but not so much on the northern border.”
Brecheen, an Oklahoma Republican, also asked about the smuggling of fentanyl from Canada, something that US President Donald Trump began to complain about even before he returned to the White House last year.
Border security officials described the quantity of the deadly drug from Canada as small compared to Mexico.
“Most of what we're seeing is across the southwest border,” Holtzer said. “We have seen a lot [from Canada]I think, the other place was Blaine, Wash., about two pounds of total fentanyl.”
US officials have seized 3.2 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border in the past eight months, according to the latest US Customs and Border Protection statistics published online.
That's down significantly from the 35 pounds of fentanyl seized at the northern border during the entire 2025 fiscal year.
Both figures are a fraction of the fentanyl seized at the Mexican border during the same period: 3,200 kilograms in the past eight months and 5,200 kilograms in fiscal year 2025.
Buffalo Democrat slams Trump's 'misplaced priorities'
Democrats on the subcommittee used their time and witnesses to protest the involvement of Customs and Border Patrol agents in border raids and to question whether agents will be sent to polling places during the upcoming midterm elections.
“We are focused on the border. We are not interested in being in the polling stations,” said Schneider.
The only Congressman at the forum representing a state on the northern border, Democrat Tim Kennedy of Buffalo, NY, warned that “the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agenda” threatens the local economy.
“We will lose if this administration diverts resources, damages diplomatic relations with Canada, restricts legitimate trade and installs agents in western New York to terrorize our community,” Kennedy told the court.
“Unfortunately, Buffalo has faced all of these challenges because of the White House's priorities.”
