8 migrants attempting to cross into U.S. from Canada found dead in two days
The bodies of two more migrants who died trying to cross from Canada into the United States were found Friday, bringing the death toll to eight, including two children, according to police in the Mohawk territory of Akwesasne.
The bodies of six people, described as members of two families of Romanian and Indian descent, were found Thursday in a marshy area of the St. Lawrence River, which forms the Canada-U.S. border.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude said authorities were still looking for Casey Oakes, 30, of Akwesasne, who was last seen Wednesday operating a boat that was found next to the bodies.
A police helicopter spotted the latest two bodies in the water.
“A total of eight bodies have now been recovered from the waters. All are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the United States from Canada,” Dulude said.
Akwesasne straddles the Canada-United States border and has territory in Quebec, Ontario and New York state.
A child whose body was discovered Friday was a Canadian citizen and a member of the Romanian family, Dulude said. The body of an adult woman believed to be an Indian national was also recovered.
The deal will expand the ability of Canadian and American border officials to turn back asylum seekers who cross without authorization.
Dulude said he didn’t know if Oakes, a person of interest, is alive.
The territory is known for being a transit point for the trafficking of humans and contraband. In February, police in Akwesasne reported an increase in human smuggling into the Mohawk territory.
“Our community has been exploited by this,” said Grand Chief Abram Benedict of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. “This is not the first time that tragedy has happened in our community like this. We’ve had other losses.”
Lee-Ann O’Brien, deputy chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, said six of the bodies were located during a search for Oakes, who was reported missing Thursday. He was last seen Wednesday around 9:30 p.m. boarding a small boat departing from the east end of Cornwall Island in the St. Lawrence River on the Ontario side of the Mohawk territory.
Weather conditions in the area were rough Wednesday night, O’Brien said.
“This is a heartbreaking situation,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “We need to understand properly what happened, how it happened and do whatever we can to minimize the chances of this ever happening again.”
In Mexico, migrants mourn those killed in detention center fire, angry over treatment as they wait in immigration and asylum limbo at the U.S. border.
The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service said the first body was located around 5 p.m. Thursday in a marsh. The area was searched by a police marine unit with the help of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department. Air support units with the Quebec and Ontario provincial police also assisted.
Postmortem and toxicology tests have been ordered to determine how the people died.
Akwesasne police say about 80 people have tried to cross illegally into Canada or the United States through Mohawk territory since January, and most have been of Indian or Romanian descent. He said it’s mostly people heading south to the United States.
“There’s always been people coming through here,” Dulude said. “I’ve always been worried about it. It’s just that now there’s more attention.”
At least 38 people died in a fire late Monday at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, officials said.
Tony Jackson, an Akwesasne resident, said crossing the river on a small, crowded boat “called for disaster.”
“The east wind around here creates a lot of waves, five feet tall, maybe taller,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he had never heard Oakes talk about transporting migrants but had witnessed groups of migrants crossing fields with bags in hand and occasionally seen boats carrying large groups of people across the river.
Families of Mexican migrants who died in boat crossing attempt at Black’s Beach learned of the tragedy through anonymous phone calls, humanitarian groups and social media.
“A couple of times in one month, you’ll see a couple of them walking down the road with all their bags,” he said.
In April 2022, six Indian nationals were rescued from a sinking boat in the St. Regis River, which runs through Akwesasne Mohawk territory. A seventh person, spotted leaving the vessel and wading ashore, was later identified as a U.S. citizen. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials described it as a human smuggling incident.
Trudeau and President Biden last week announced a plan to close a loophole to an immigration agreement that allowed thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to move between the two countries along a back road linking New York state to Quebec.
The deal, which closed an illegal border crossing point about 66 miles east of Akwesasne, took effect Saturday.
Early last year, a Florida man was charged with human smuggling after the bodies of four people, including a baby and a teen, were found in Canada near the U.S. border in what authorities believe was a failed crossing attempt between Manitoba, Canada, and North Dakota during a blizzard. Those who died were Indian nationals trying to enter the U.S.
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