BUFFALO, N.Y. — Roughly 30 Customs and Border agents from upstate New York will be heading to the southern border over the next few months.
Originally announced back in April, the office of Democratic Congressman Brian Higgins is confirming new details on the move.
Rep. Higgins' office says those customs officers will be sent for 60-day assignments at the southern border. Of the nearly 30 agents being temporarily transferred, we are told only one of them volunteered.
What could create an issue for us here in WNY, is that the transfers come at the time where bridge traffic in and out of Canada is at its peak. Fewer agents could mean longer wait times at bridges than usual.
Data from the U.S Department of Transportation shows that in 2018, nearly 600,000 personal vehicles crossed the border in both July and August in the Buffalo-Niagara region. Compare that to less than 300,000 vehicles per month in January and February.
Rep. Brian Higgins is opposed to border agents being moved, sending a letter calling the situation at the country's southern border a "manufactured crisis." Higgins says that transferring agents south will subject drivers to unreasonable delays at bridges into Canada, and jeopardize our northern border security.
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