Sixteen caught crossing illegally into U.S. from Quebec in days before Trump tariff threat [Video]

On a late Saturday afternoon, two days before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Canadian goods over migrants and fentanyl, the RCMP alerted U.S. Border Patrol about a group of people crossing illegally from Quebec into an area near Chateaugay, N.Y.

Border Patrol agents initially spotted the group, but then lost them in the forests along these borderlands. Then, at about 7 p.m. ET, they found a white Acura with New Jersey plates parked on a dirt road near the border. The driver told the agents he was looking for a hotel before driving off.

The group that crossed from Canada remained at large as the day shift handed off their duties to the night shift, which took up the search. Then, shortly after midnight on Sunday, agents again saw the white Acura RDX, which headed for the backroads along the border and executed a pick-up.

This led to …