Trump's border czar says Canadian border is an 'extreme' vulnerability

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's border czar says there is an "extreme national security vulnerability" along the Canada-U.S. border that he plans to deal with the moment the new Republican administration takes power.

Tom Homan, named Sunday as the official in charge of all U.S. border issues, said in a television interview that he expects there will be "tough conversations" with Ottawa about the situation along the Canada-U.S. border. 

"The problem with the northern border is a huge national security issue," Homan told 7News in Watertown, N.Y., a community some 40 kilometres from a crossing into eastern Ontario. Homan is from the area. 

He said "special interest aliens" — individuals from countries the U.S. says sponsor terror — use Canada as a gateway into the U.S.  

"Because they know, [there's] a lot less, fewer officers here," Homan said. "It's one of the things I'll tackle when I'm in the White House."

In raw numbers, irregular crossings along the U.S. border with Mexico substantially outpace those over the Canadian border. However, human smuggling activity from Canada has risen sharply over the past two years, particularly along the border between eastern Ontario, Quebec, New York and Vermont. 

U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents apprehended over 19,000 individuals, from 97 different countries, through this area over a 12-month span ending Oct. 2, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics. 

That's more than were apprehended throughout the same area over the previous 17 fiscal years combined, according to a recent post on X by the USBP's Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia, who is in charge of the region, which is known as the Swanton Sector.

This has created friction with U.S. officials along border areas and their concerns were picked up by Trump during the election campaign and by his former Republican challengers Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy during the primary race. 

Homan comes from West Carthage, N.Y., which sits about 70 kilometres southeast of Ontario's Thousand Islands region on the St. Lawrence River. 

"It's home, I'm not going to ignore home," he told 7News. 

Homan, a former acting director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he will be working in the White House and reporting directly to Trump while overseeing the new administration's plans for border crackdowns and mass deportations.

Trump, Homan said, must work with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to see that Canada's immigration laws are enforced. 

"There has to be an understanding from Canada that they can't be a gateway to terrorists coming into the United States," he said.