Customs and Border protection revealed that more than 960 people crossed the U.S.-Canada border in 2018, according to NBC News, a 91% uptick from the year prior.
Why now: Numbers are nowhere near the stream of migration from Mexico. Border agent Richard Ross speculated that travelers perceive the journey from the U.S. to Canada as "safer," than alternative routes, and attributed the recent rise of border crossings to immigration changes in Canada that permit people from other countries to enter without visas. According to NBC News, Ross described instances of immigrants falsely promised jobs and quickly growing desperate, becoming "ready-made clientele for smugglers."
