Hochul blasts move to cut border crossing hours

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is blasting the Biden administration for reducing office hours at four northern border crossings amid an ongoing surge of immigration. 

On Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced that hours will be reduced at 38 sites—including four in New York state—beginning Jan. 6 in collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency.

The federal agency said it would allow customs officers to be shifted to other, busier ports of entry.

But Hochul said she “opposes” the move and is calling on the Biden administration to boost staffing along the U.S.-Canadian border, which has seen an uptick in illegal crossings over the past year. 

“While the Biden-Harris Administration has achieved measurable success in enhancing southern border security, New York is experiencing a dramatic increase in irregular crossings along our northern border,” she said in a statement. “We need to expand enforcement at the northern border today and I call on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reverse this decision.”

New York has redirected $5 million in federal State Homeland Security Program funding to enhance security efforts along the state’s border with Canada, Hochul said, including by purchasing additional tools to support investigations into transnational criminal organizations. 

“While these important resources will help keep New Yorkers safe and manage the spike in illegal border crossings, greater federal support is crucial to meet the magnitude of migration we are seeing,” she said.

Hochul also criticized Republicans in Congress for failing to pass a bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill earlier this year “that would have given states like New York greater resources to handle the influx of migrants nationwide, and New York can no longer afford to wait for federal lawmakers to act.” 

New York Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik — whose district shares a border with Canada — have long been calling for stepped-up scrutiny of the northern border. 

“Enough is enough,” Stefanik said in a recent statement. “Our rural communities are struggling due to the America Last policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Kathy Hochul, and Chuck Schumer.”

To be sure, northern border crossings are rising, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection data for fiscal 2024 showing a record-breaking 198,929 apprehensions and encounters, up from the previous fiscal year, which also broke records.

That figure is still dwarfed by the U.S.-Mexico border, which saw more than 1.5 million such apprehensions during the same timeframe, according to the federal agency. 

Republicans and others have pointed to New York City’s “sanctuary” status and other Democratic-backed policies they say have encouraged more than 230,000 migrants to flood the city over the past two years. 

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar, Tom Homan, has pledged to oversee the “largest immigration crackdown in U.S. history” and has put New York City officials on notice that ICE will be ramping up their presence if the sanctuary city doesn’t begin cooperating with enforcing federal immigration laws.

Mayor Eric Adams has signaled a willingness to work with the incoming Trump administration on the migrant crisis but has insisted that the city will remain a sanctuary city.