Federal lawmakers will not take action to increase security at the northern border after illegal border crossings have increased dramatically at New York's boundary it shares with Canada.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand introduced bipartisan legislation this week to combat trafficking of illegal weapons and drugs after unauthorized crossings at the northern border have increased over 240% from 2022 and 2023, and more than doubled this year — placing a strain on local resources.

The bill, sponsored by Western New York Congressman Republican Nick Langworthy in the House, would increase resources to North Country communities, including to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, to analyze border threats every three years.

"While we still have a lot fewer migrants crossing our northern border than our southern border, the problem has been compounded by the fact the Department of Homeland Security hasn't updated its northern border strategy since 2018," Gillibrand told reporters Wednesday. 

It would also mandate the Department of Homeland Security's Northern Border strategy about changes and tension at the Canadian boundary be updated regularly.

U.S. senators unanimously voted Wednesday to pass the bill out of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

But House members are done voting on policies until after Election Day on Nov. 5, meaning it will be months before federal action as thousands more families cross into the United States through New York.

And Gillibrand said North Country communities remain ill-equipped to handle the new level of migration.

"Because we've had such a huge increase in the number of cross-border smuggling of people, guns and drugs, we need a better strategy," she said.

Langworthy introduced the House bill in June, and worked with Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to introduce it in the Senate this week.

“Our northern border, the world’s longest unsecured border, poses a major threat to our national security, with hundreds of thousands of unidentified individuals streaming into our communities every year,” Langworthy said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris administration’s neglect has left us completely vulnerable — that’s why I introduced the Northern Border Security Enhancement and Review Act to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable and ensure they report to Congress. This legislation is not just a necessity, it's a demand for more transparency from the Biden-Harris Administration as it comes to the safety and sovereignty of our nation.”

But political differences typically halt progress on immigration reform in its tracks.

Gillibrand said it was a disgrace that Republicans refused to vote on a bipartisan immigration bill this spring that would have increased security at the U.S.-Mexico and Canadian borders and provided funding for hundreds more border patrol agents and better technology.

In the meantime, local Republican lawmakers have called on the state to take action to improve communication between federal, state and local police. Watertown Assemblyman Scott Gray has led a GOP-led push to repeal New York's law in border counties that permits undocumented people to acquire a driver's license and share the information with federal law enforcement. 

Gray said police in St. Lawrence and Clinton counties have told him they need more help from the state, or more resources for migrants coming over the northern border.

"All we're saying is, we have to put procedures back in place," Gray said. "I've had a chief of police tell me that if they happen to inadvertently share anything with a federal agent, they get blocked out of the system altogether. ... If a federal agent pulls over individuals, they cannot tell if there's any warrants on those individuals, so it really is counterintuitive and counterproductive to basically providing, you know, the most basic form of public safety."

Officials on both sides of the aisle agree something must be done, but with the election on the horizon, a compromise remains out of reach.

"This needs a multi-layer approach," Gray said. "I'm not a person that says it's a federal issue. I'm a person that says we all have a responsibility here. It's a federal issue, it's a state issue and we also — we have to give the resources to local law enforcement who are dealing with it on the front lines."

Officials in the state Budget Division said Wednesday it's nearly impossible to quantify how the state is assisting North Country communities with the increased strain on their resources from the uptick in these crossings. The state has allocated $4.3 billion to help municipalities pay for resources related to an influx of migrants to New York, but local governments must submit expenses to the state for reimbursement.