A version of this story was published for the first time by the Newport Dispatch on October 24, 2024.

NEWPORT CENTER — When Justin LeBlanc’s sons installed trail cameras on their family farm in Newport Center, they weren’t looking to document illegal border crossings. But for several nights, that’s exactly what they captured.

The first images were recorded on Sunday, just hours after surveillance cameras were installed near the intersection of Leadville Road and Lake Road. The following night, a second camera in the same area captured another group, including what appeared to be several men led by a man. wearing a turban.

“Whoever is in front is their guide,” LeBlanc said. “He’s the one who goes back and forth with the different groups of people.”

Although those individuals were not apprehended, U.S. Border Patrol agents later arrested a separate group in LeBlanc’s driveway in a later incident, LeBlanc said.

Border Patrol responded quickly to the initial camera footage, according to LeBlanc. “They did a really good job of immediately coming to look at the scene and then they had a big meeting with each other to come up with a game plan on what they were going to do to try to catch these guys,” he said. he declared.

The activity is not isolated. LeBlanc described how a neighbor recently saw five people come out of the woods and quickly enter a waiting vehicle on nearby Leadville Road before speeding away. Reports of suspicious vehicles in the area have become commonplace, with some residents noticing cars with out-of-state license plates, including New York registrations, frequently appearing in connection with these incidents.

“It’s an everyday thing,” LeBlanc said, expressing concern for his family’s safety on their farm, where they produce hay for horses and dairy cows, and hunt and hike regularly. “It’s really worrying and we definitely feel a sense of unease,” he said. “We can’t really let the children go alone anymore. It just puts a twist on things we’re not used to.

As VTDigger reported in AugustBorder Patrol has reported a record number of migrants crossing the international border from Canada into the United States, particularly in the region known as the Swanton sector, which includes Vermont, New Hampshire and parts of New York.

THE most recent figures of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, shows agents in the Swanton sector apprehended 19,385 people in the year ending in September. This is up from 6,925 the year before and 1,065 the year before. (These latest figures also include those who were expelled under Title 42a public health order during a pandemic.)

Arrests appear to have peaked in June, when 3,310 people were arrested in the Swanton area. This number has since fallen to 1,575 in September, although this remains well above the 956 recorded in September 2023.

The Border Patrol increased its staffing in the area in response to that increase, Special Operations Supervisor Josh Cozzens told VTDigger in August, stationing groups of 20 to 25 agents throughout the sector — some of whom have since been reassigned the southern border.

“Our agents are very busy,” Cozzens said at the time. “We have seen a number of arrests that we have never seen in our history in this region.”

A Border Patrol spokesperson said Friday he could not immediately comment on the incidents at Newport Center.

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Footage from LeBlanc’s camera circulated widely on social media, generating thousands of shares and comments from community members.

“A lot of people didn’t know this was happening and some remain in disbelief,” LeBlanc said. “It’s not a joke.”

VTDigger contributed reporting to this story.