A United States helicopter, RCMP patrols, sensors and cameras are not enough to deter asylum seekers from crossing the U.S.-Canada border into Manitoba.

In the last three weeks, more than 50 asylum seekers from the U.S. have slipped through to Canada near the Emerson border.

“It's flat, there's no mountains,” said Safety Officer Jay Ihme with the Emerson Fire Department and Rescue. “There’s access roads, there's railway lines. It’s just an easy place for them to cross," he said Sunday.

This past weekend, 21 African men, women and children managed to cross the border on foot.

The RCMP said it works closely with Canadian and U.S. officials and can respond to the evolving environment encountered at the border. On Thursday, RCMP said it would allocate more resources to patrol the border near Emerson to help apprehend and direct refugee claimants to the Canada Border Services Agency.

They were processed at the Canada Border Services Agency before staff with Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council drove them to Winnipeg to claim refugee status.

READ MORE: Lawyers call for changes to Safe Third Country Agreement amid influx of refugees

Vanessa Trosdahl operates the Red Roost Motel in Pembina N.D. and has seen the desperation first-hand.

A Somali woman with a visa about to expire stayed at the motel. The woman tried to get her son into Canada, but border guards turned them away.

"This lady had all the papers, everything, and sobbed. I cried with her. It was really sad," she said.

Minneapolis is a hub on the underground railroad. Men pay smugglers up to $600 to be driven from there to near the Manitoba border. When they're close, the smuggler points north and they walk.

Asylum seekers snuck through at two locations near over the weekend. Multiple residents and officials said they crossed from Noyes, Minn. near a rail line.

READ MORE: 21 people cross border into Emerson overnight: RCMP

Emergency responders said that group of 16 people came from Djibouti. Another group of five from Somalia crossed west of Highway 75 near and south of Highway 243.

Asylum seekers who manage to cross the border through the frozen field go from trying to hide to trying to be found.

People with cell phones will call 911. Others will enter Emerson in the hope someone will make the call for them.

Ihme said what he's seeing now isn't new, but said the groups are getting larger.

"Maybe it's Trump, maybe's it's our government’s pull,” he said. “I think we are seeing more women now. Children we've, always had some. I think we are seeing the odd family unit, too," Ihme said.