The U.S. Department of Justice is directing a special task force that has been investigating human smuggling primarily at the southern border to expand its focus to the northern border.

The department said in a news release Thursday that prosecutors will be working with U.S. Attorneys’ offices in Vermont and New York, and the Northern District of New York to investigate and bring cases.

It’s unclear whether Maine, which shares the third longest international border and two dozen land crossings with Canada, will be affected by the expansion of Joint Task Force Alpha.

Neither the U.S. Department of Justice, nor acting U.S. Attorney for Maine Craig Wolff responded Friday to interview requests or questions about whether Maine would be included.

A spokesperson for Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Friday that she is seeking answers about the apparent exclusion of Maine, which has been working to combat a surge in illegal marijuana grow operations and alleged human trafficking connected to Chinese criminal enterprises.

“Senator Collins supports securing our borders to prevent illegal crossings, human smuggling and the flow of illegal drugs that have devastated our communities in recent years” Blake Kernen said. “Senator Collins’ office has reached out to the DOJ to ask for an explanation of why Maine is not a part of this initiative.”

A spokesperson for Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, did not directly respond to questions about whether human smuggling was a significant concern or on Maine’s apparent exclusion.

“Senator King is regularly updated on the state and federal intervention on the illicit activities occurring across the entire northern border,” Matthew Felling said. “As Maine’s senator and former governor, he is always willing to assist the state with any additional federal resources needed.”

The focus on the northern border comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection encounters with noncitizens since Trump took office are down drastically from the previous two years, raising questions over what’s driving the administration’s focus here.

With two months to go in the federal fiscal year, border patrol agents have logged about 5,935 encounters with noncitizens, with about 4,100 of those encounters occurring before Trump took office in January.

Since then, monthly encounters in Maine have ranged from a low of 210 in March to a high of 386 in July.

In the previous year, under former President Joe Biden, agents logged more than 23,000 encounters in Maine, ranging from 1,520 in February 2024 to 2,369 in April.

Both New York and Vermont have seen similar declines.

Meanwhile, Maine’s international border is about 611 miles long, with 24 land crossings with Quebec and New Brunswick. That’s the third longest among the 13 northern border states, trailing only Alaska and Michigan.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the expansion of Joint Task Force Alpha. The effort was created by the Biden administration in 2021 to investigate and prosecute human smuggling cases primarily along the southern border.

Bondi said the task force will expand to regions in the northern border, specifically naming New York and Vermont, and said local U.S Attorneys Offices would consult the task force on all significant human smuggling cases.

“Let me be clear: If you smuggle human beings, you will be found, you will be prosecuted and you will be brought to justice,” Bondi told reporters during a news conference in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday.

Sheriffs in Maine’s border counties — Aroostook, Washington, Somerset and Franklin — did not respond to interview requests Friday to discuss whether they are concerned about significant human smuggling from the northern border.