Submitted Photo Congressman Kelly Armstrong speaks during a field hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement, held in Grand Forks on Wednesday.

The nation’s troubles at its southern border are spilling over to the northern border, according to law enforcement officials who addressed the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement at a field hearing in Grand Forks on Wednesday.

The hearing was held at the request of Congressman Kelly Armstrong, R-ND, to afford the subcommittee the opportunity to hear first hand about the impacts of federal policy on North Dakota’s section of the 5,500-mile-long northern border.

“You can’t be farther away from the southern border than Grand Forks. We’re 70 miles from the Canadian border, but in every single community across the state of North Dakota somebody is dying from fentanyl poisoning. One hundred percent of the fentanyl pills are made by the cartels in Mexico,” Armstrong said. “We oftentimes get into this conversation about whether they’re coming in by ports of entry, between ports of entry, U.S. citizens, non-U.S. citizens, all of those different issues. But we lose sight of the simple fact that they’re coming from the cartels. I don’t care how they’re getting here. I want it to stop.”

“It appears the Biden Administration’s permissiveness has signaled weakness at the northern border, resulting in a significant uptick in illegal activity up here as well. The statistics are alarming,” North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said. “Border encounters for the North Dakota sector of the border have escalated at a dramatic rate, calling the integrity of the northern border into serious question.”

Data provided to Wrigley by the North Dakota Bureau of Investigation showed apprehensions of illegal immigrants and expulsions have exploded from 548 in 2021 to 2,100 in 2022 and 4,444 in 2023. Wrigley said 2024 is likely to continue that statistical climb as the year concludes.

“Our respective states are faced with a stunning reality that our communities are in danger and must be alerted that a significant number of our foreign adversaries have made their way into our midst, and they are undermining public safety and the long-term national security of the United States,” Wrigley said.

A concern highlighted by Renville County Sheriff Roger Hutchinson was the depletion of staffing at the three border crossings in his North Dakota sector. It has put a strain on his department, which is the only law enforcement entity in Renville County. Hutchinson said his department has only seven full-time and three part-time deputies to support the county’s day-to-day law enforcement operations, in addition to its participation in Operation Stone Garden.

“When I first became sheriff, I do not recall a day where I did not see a patrol agent patrolling. At one time we had four patrol agents who lived within our county and a resident agent in Mohall, North Dakota. Now we have one resident agent in our county who works out of Portal Station. Our deputies rarely see a patrol agent patrolling anywhere in our county. I also can’t remember the last time Portal Station was fully staffed,” Hutchinson said. “Discussions that I have had personally in the past reiterated that patrol agents were being temporarily deployed to the southern border, or having to sit in the Portal Station remotely virtually processing undocumented migrants from the southern border. With understaffing issues, TDY’s and virtual processing, who is left to patrol the border?”

As witnesses shared data and accounts of the effects of President Joe Biden’s policy shifts of Trump-era immigration restrictions, Armstrong also said how this has resulted in the diversion of resources “to put a Band-Aid on the bullet wound that is our southern border.” This prevents business owners, farmers and families from engaging in everyday activities on the Canadian border, he said.

Walhalla Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rebecca Davis spoke to the impacts of limited crossing hours at both Walhalla and Neche, which now close at 5 p.m. since their hours were reduced during the COVID pandemic.

“The restricted hours at our local ports of entry hinder the free flow of visitors, negatively impacting local businesses and tourism,” Davis said. “Many residents in our communities have family in Canada, and these restrictions have strained family relationships. Some of these grandparents have never even been able to attend a school concert. Our town survives on Canadian business.”

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner also spoke at the committee hearing, chaired by Rep. Tom McClintock,R-Calif.