Quebec’s public safety minister announced Tuesday that the province will send more police officers to the United States to help fight organized crime near the border.
Six additional Soulete du Québec (SQ) agents will be deployed as part of the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), which is coordinated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The SQ already has three investigators assigned to the task force.
This task force works on transnational organized crime cases involving the smuggling of people, drugs, and firearms. The expanded SQ deployment is part of a broader effort by state and federal authorities to crack down on illegal border crossings and smuggling in response to threats from President-elect Donald Trump.
Public Security Minister François Bonardel recently met with U.S. officials, who said the number of illegal crossings has increased in recent years. In 2024 alone, a total of 26,000 illegal border crossings occurred across Canada, including 19,000 in the Swanton region, which stretches across the U.S. border in Ontario from Akwesasne to Sherbrooke, Que.
Bonnardel said he and Premier François Legault will soon meet with federal officials to seek answers from Ottawa about newly announced plans to invest in border security.
The $1.3 billion plan, announced in December, includes investments in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and new technology such as drones and surveillance towers.
But Bonnardel said he hopes the bulk of the money will be spent in Quebec.
“I understand that the border is vast, but the problem lies here. I think the efforts have to be made primarily here,” he said at a morning press conference.
After announcing a $1.3 billion plan to beef up security at the U.S. border, Canadian officials laid out ideas for how to spend the money.
Meanwhile, he and Legault will seek clarity from the federal government on what can be done to further reduce immigration.
He said U.S. officials have told him that statistics show that the majority of people who cross the border illegally are Indians who traveled to Canada legally.
“Are we being too tolerant?” Bonnardell asked. “At some point, it’s up to Immigration Canada to explain why certain communities come to Canada legally to go to the United States illegally.”
Bonnardel said there is still concern that more people will try to enter Canada because of President Trump’s promise to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants, but so far there hasn’t been a surge in migrants heading north from the United States. said.
Still, Bonnardel said the SQ was ready to deploy 300 police officers within 48 hours if needed to crack down on the rise in illegal immigration.
Bonardel said he has heard from U.S. officials that drug trafficking is not a concern in the Swanton area, despite President Trump’s concerns about fentanyl smuggling from Canada.
“Fentanyl is not a problem in Quebec. It is a problem in Western Canada,” he said.
SQ Assistant Director-General Andre Santerre said police are working closely with partners south of the border to crack down on gun smuggling into Canada.
But the SQ also receives calls from concerned citizens who are noticing the flow of migrants south and reporting suspicious activity, such as migrants entering the forest near the border or vehicles loitering nearby. We have received dozens of cases.
The agency has also received calls for help from migrants who have run into trouble trying to cross the border’s difficult terrain.
