EASTPORT, Maine — Maine’s northern border with Canada is vast, and in some places entirely open.
While the White House focuses on the Mexican border, numerous agencies are still working to protect the border here, where they say crime is bleeding over.
Eastport is quiet and quaint, but is playing a big role in our country’s protection.
The United States Coast Guard has 21 men and women stationed in Eastport. They’re monitoring a thin line between the United States and Canada looking for people, drugs, guns and terrorists.
It’s thousands of miles of coast, which may seem like a natural barrier, but they said nothing is fully secure.
“There’s some gap and vulnerabilities along the northern border that we need to be paying attention to,” Commander James McLay with the United States Coast Guard said.
CBS 13 was on board with the USCG as they skirted the border with Canada.
“Our patrol area moves all the way up the western passage and the St. Croix River,” Station Eastport Captain Josh Smith said.
The St. Croix River is one of the most unique areas the Coast Guard patrols because it’s split right down the middle by the border.
“It’s fairly vast and there’s not a lot of population up here,” Commander McLay said. “There’s not as much population as say our southern border so that presents some challenges. But it also presents some opportunities for collaboration and coordination.”
That’s where the United States Border Patrol comes in.
“It would be an absolute impossibility for any one agency to secure the border,” Border Patrol Agent Todd Smith said.
Smith said he started his career securing the Mexican border.
“Down there it’s mainly catching illegal migrants and up here it’s just a different ball game,” Agent Smith said. “They have much more to concern themselves with.”
During our patrol both agencies were looking for everything from fishing violations to drug and weapons smuggling and they’ve had a lot of recent success.
“This year alone we’ve had seizures of narcotics, weapons, and even apprehensions for attempted illegal entry into the United States,” McLay said. “So we know those things are accruing.”
Border patrol said this year the agency has already apprehended 29 people. That’s up from last year when over the course of 12 months they apprehended 25. In 2017 they also report they’ve seized 29 pounds of marijuana. They’ve also seized cocaine, heroin and meth.
“Certainly not the numbers that you would find on the southern border but important nonetheless and it’s something we need to address and be constantly visual of,” McLay said.
The agencies said those trying to cross over illegally hope they’ll never be found, disappearing in rural Maine.
“When we do catch people there tends to be a different story other than an immigrant looking for a better place to live,” Agent Smith said. “When we encounter someone there could quite possibly be something more sinister to it.”
They said their mission is to prevent terrorism, but they can’t do it alone.
“It doesn’t take long for someone to try and come across there,” Border Patrol Division Chief Keith Hoops said. “If we’re not there at that moment and someone else is it’s essential that we hear about it and it’s reported.”
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