FORT COVINGTON, New York (WWNY) – “Unbelievable.” That’s how one northern New York man describes the influx of people using his land to illegally enter the United States.
Chris Oliver has captured them on a trail camera he set up on his property in Fort Covington. He says all of the men, women and children on video are illegally entering the U.S. from Canada.
He says border patrol has its own trail cameras picking up the same thing.
“Generally the border patrol is here pretty quick – they’re within three, four minutes. Sometimes they’re right at the end of the driveway,” said Oliver.
The driveway is an unpaved road where Oliver’s home sits. That cornfield across the way is Canada.
His trail camera is a little farther down the road and just feet away from the border – a wire fence is all that separates the two countries. He says no one used to come around here, but that’s all changed.
“This is unbelievable how many people have been coming across in this last year, year-and-a-half,” said Oliver.
Numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show illegal border crossing apprehensions have skyrocketed along what’s known as the Swanton Sector. That’s the border stretching from Alexandria Bay east through Vermont and New Hampshire.
So far this fiscal year, 17,810 people have been caught entering the U.S. from Canada without permission. Compare that to 2021 when the number was 365.
Franklin County Sheriff Jay Cook says many local residents are concerned.
“How would you like it if, wherever you live, in your backyard, if you had a constant stream of people walking through, peaking through your windows, hiding out in your sheds, looking in your cars, turning your lights on, making your dog bark? Could you sleep at night,” he said.
Oliver says he’s had unnerving experiences. He says these strangers hung out in his yard before border patrol agents took them away.
The motion-activated trail camera sends alerts to his phone – mostly in the middle of the night.
“We don’t know who these people are. They’re coming over here undocumented when you’re at work and you see people walking by your camera, you don’t know if these people are gonna do harm,” said Oliver.
His worries are compounded by recent incidents, including the case of this Canadian man linked to two murders. He crossed the border and was caught in nearby Akwesasne.
“That’s proof that not all these people are good. That’s the biggest concern when you’re not here is what is gonna happen,” said Oliver.
7 News was unable to independently verify that the people in Oliver’s videos crossed the border illegally. Customs and Border Protection said it was “not able to accommodate” our request for an interview.
On Tuesday on 7 News This Evening at 6, we’ll see some of the items Oliver says the border crossers have left behind – and some of it may surprise you.