During the Biden administration, I was on the front lines reporting on the northern border crisis and national security threats. Then the threats came from Canadian officials.
As the border crisis worsened, I broke multiple exclusive stories that were published by the Center Square. They included the record number of gotaways illegally entering the United States based on data obtained from Border Patrol agents under a gag order, comparing illegal border crosser totals to state and country populations, reporting on each of the 55 Texas counties declaring an invasion, and multiple Operation Lone Star task force operations targeting smugglers.
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It wasn’t until I began reporting on the record number of known or suspected terrorists at the U.S.-Canada border that I began receiving increased threats, including from Canadian authorities.
Fourteen states share the longest international border in the world with Canada, totaling 5,525 miles. The border was established by treaties, first in 1783 and again in 1846, adjusted along the 49th parallel.
The shared border has a decadeslong history of little to no operational control. Unlike at the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, there exists no border wall. And there is significantly less technological equipment, surveillance, and manpower.
At the height of the border crisis, I reported that nearly 20,000 illegal border crossers were apprehended coming from 97 countries in one year in a region that includes Vermont, six upstate New York counties, and three New Hampshire counties.
Nearly half of all northern border apprehensions occurred in upstate New York, including Iranians with terrorist ties. Unprecedented illegal entries also occurred in Washington, Vermont, Maine, and Montana, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Illegal entries were partially facilitated by cartel operatives flying people to Canada with scouts positioned in the U.S. to bring them across, lax Trudeau administration visa policies, and Canadian border patrol unable to prevent illegal foreign nationals from reaching the U.S., including known or suspected terrorists, authorities explained.
With the most populated Canadian cities located south of the 49th parallel, terrorists only have 48 miles to get to Massena, New York if they reach Ottawa, Ontario; 95 miles to Burlington, Vermont, from Montreal; and 108 miles to Seattle from Victoria, British Columbia.
Last year, Canadian officials granted citizenship to an Egyptian member of the Islamic State group living in Toronto. He was later arrested and charged with plotting a terrorist attack. Toronto is only 100 miles from Buffalo, New York.
It only took 19 men to commit the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Yet, under the Biden and Trudeau administrations, U.S. officials apprehended the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists illegally entering or attempting entry to the U.S. from Canada, a record 1,216, 64% of all known or suspected terrorists reported nationwide.
That’s more than a U.S. Army battalion. This had never happened before in U.S.-Canadian history.
The public has the right to know this information.
However, Canadian Embassy staff from Washington contacted the Center Square because of my “extensive reporting on the northern border,” demanding corrections be made. They also insisted that I get on a recorded phone or video call with Canadian officials and meet with Canadian officials at the embassy to be briefed “on U.S. border security.”
No corrections were warranted or made. My reporting continued to break news.
The consul general of New York also sent a letter to me and editors of other news organizations demanding retractions and that I go to the Canadian office in New York.
While claiming the U.S.-Canada border is the most secure border in the world, Canadian officials also contacted sources I quoted, pressuring them to retract their statements, my sources told me.
In response, I contacted multiple U.S. authorities and was advised not to set foot in Canada or any Canadian entity in the U.S. The threats did not deter me from reporting the facts.
Americans have a right to know that Canadian officials who claim that Canada is one of America’s closest allies are threatening journalists in both countries and attempting to restrict freedom of the press.
Under the Trudeau administration, Canadian journalists were arrested and detained after asking questions about terrorism, government accountability, and transparency. Last year, the Canadian Association of Journalists demanded that all law enforcement agencies “swiftly implement enforceable policies that will prevent journalists from being improperly arrested or detained.” The Canada Press Freedom Project is documenting examples of journalists who were arrested, attacked, prohibited from reporting, and subject to other incidents.
No First Amendment protections exist in the constitutional monarchy of Canada, whose head of state is King Charles III.
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Next year, the U.S. will celebrate 250 years of independence after American colonists defeated the British Empire. In the Constitution and Bill of Rights, America’s Founding Fathers prioritized freedom of speech and of the press.
The right to publish information, ideas, and facts and report on government actions without fear of censorship, imprisonment, or being murdered has existed in the U.S. since Dec. 15, 1791. Canadian officials could implement First Amendment protections in their own country, but they can’t remove them in the U.S.
Bethany Blankley is a finalist for the Dao Prize for her reporting on the northern border.