A sign in Quebec is seen on a country road just north of the U.S. border from Alburgh, Vermont. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to devote more federal resources to securing the border between the U.S. and Canada, citing a marked increase in illegal crossings from the northern country into New York and other border states.

On Wednesday, she outlined the Northern Border Security Enhancement and Review Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection conduct a “threat analysis” for the northern border every three years. That analysis would need to include updated accounting for the number and demographics of those apprehended illegally crossing the northern border, and would require that DHS update its strategy every 90 days after the analysis is done, and provide a brief to Congress within 30 days from the strategy update.

In a statement, Gillibrand said she was concerned by the dramatic increase in illegal crossings at the northern border, which have approximately doubled according to CBP data.

In 2023, more than 190,000 people were caught attempting to illegally cross the border, either while crossing or shortly after. That’s a 241% increase from 2022, a much more rapid increase in illegal crossings than typically seen year-over-year at the southern border.

The bill has the support of Gillibrand and Sens. Margaret C. Hassan, D-N.H., and Kevin J. Cramer, R-N.D. The bill unanimously passed through the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.

This comes after two years of steadily increasing illegal crossings over the northern border into the U.S.

In April of last year, the bodies of eight people were found in the St. Lawrence River, including four Indian citizens and four of Romanian heritage with Canadian passports. They had attempted to cross through the St. Regis Mohawk lands that straddle the border across the river.

And on Tuesday, a handful of regional Republican leaders — including Assemblymen Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, Kenneth D. Blankenbush, R-Black River, state Sen. Daniel G. Stec, R-Queensbury and the St. Lawrence, Clinton, Franklin and Jefferson county sheriffs — rallied in Ogdensburg to request that state leadership pass a law to exempt northern border counties from the state’s “Green Light Law.” That law limits the ability for law enforcement officials to check someone’s citizenship status, collaborate with federal immigration enforcement, and also permits non-citizens and those in the U.S. illegally to obtain a New York state license. The law doesn’t permit non-citizens to vote, but local officials have said they have concerns about illegal voting and increased border crossings in to New York because of it.