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Border Patrol Makes Arrest At Calais Border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have arrested a man who they say admitted to crossing illegally into the United States from Canada, at Calais.

45-year-old Benigno Godinez-Cortez, of Mexico, was detained on Tuesday.

"It's a very vast border, but obviously vast doesn't equate to porousness,” says Houlton Sector Public Affairs Liaison, Jonathan Maynard.

Maynard says that while the focus has been on the Southern border, it is not uncommon for people to attempt to enter via the North. In this case, Maynard says the suspect had avoided the legal crossing at Calais but was detected by “other means.”

"Obviously there are electronic measures that are used that we rely on,” he says. “Another piece we rely on is citizenry in the towns we work in. Often times they'll give us a call if something looks out of place."

Maynard did not elaborate other than to say officials had "received a report of potential illegal activity."

Maynard says that a subsequent record check indicated that Godinez-Cortez had been removed from the United States previously in 1994. According to the Associated Press, the man had been waiting for his Australian girlfriend to pick him up. She was subsequently charged with inducing him to enter the country illegally. The case was turned over to the US Attorney.

This is the second immigration arrest for the CBP in a month. Officials detained a Haitian national in the Penobscot County town of Howland June 20, after setting up a checkpoint on I-95.