Canada, U.S. seek fix for leaky border loophole
AS ILLEGAL MIGRANTS OUTNUMBER THE LEGAL ONES, THE LIBERALS ARE LOOKING TO PLUG A HOLE IN THE SYSTEM
In the first three months of this year, the RCMP intercepted 5,052 asylum seekers who had unlawfully crossed the border from the United States.
Last year, the Mounties intercepted 20,593 people who illegally crossed the Canada-U.S. border and subsequently claimed asylum, taking advantage of a loophole in what’s known as the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S.
Under the agreement, border guards at points of entry can turn away asylum seekers on the grounds they are already in a safe country, but that doesn’t apply to those who enter Canada illegally.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, writes Tristin Hopper, says Canada is in “exploratory” talks with the U.S. to find a solution to the loophole.
Conservatives, meanwhile, are calling the discussions with the U.S. administration “too little, too late.”
The federal government wants to change a bilateral agreement with the U.S. in a bid to turn back thousands of asylum seekers — a move that comes as more people are now seeking refugee status in Canada by illegal means rather than legal ones.
The repercussions from Canada’s ongoing migrant crisis has meant that the federal government is now building an unofficial police station on the U.S. border because of the large number of Mounties needed to process illegal border crossings in rural Quebec.
Meanwhile, in Toronto last week, Mayor John Tory announced that the number of refugee claimants in the city’s shelter system has quadrupled from 459 per night in 2016 to an average of 2,351 in 2018.
And at least one Quebec politician is calling for a border fence with the U.S. “We have several good fence builders in Quebec, so we’re spoiled for choice,” Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée said last week.
In the first three months of 2018, the RCMP intercepted 5,052 asylum seekers who had entered Canada by unlawfully crossing the country’s border with the United States. This compares with 4,475 people who filed refugee claims using conventional means, such as claiming asylum at a land border or airport.
If these trends continue, 2018 will become the first year on record in which a majority of Canadian asylum seekers will have filed their claim after first making an unlawful crossing of the Canadian border.
“It is my belief that border crossers will exceed conventional refugees probably in 2018,” said Raj Sharma, a Calgary-based immigration lawyer and former refugee protection officer.
He noted, “the temperature’s not going down in the U.S. in terms of irregular migrants.”
The illegal crossings have been spawned in part by a loophole in what’s known as the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. Under this measure, guards at the Canada-U.S. border are authorized to turn away asylum seekers on the grounds that they are already in a safe country.
However, the agreement only refers to ports of entry, and does not apply to an asylum seeker who has entered Canada illegally.
Reuters reported that Canada wants the agreement rewritten to apply to the entire border.
“We’ve got a problem, here. We’ve got to fix it. And we need the Americans’ cooperation,” one Canadian official told Reuters.
On Tuesday, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Canada is in “exploratory” talks with the U.S. over the agreement but dismissed claims that Liberals want the agreement to encompass the entire border.
“That … would increase insecurity at the border and make the crossing issues less safe,” he said.
He said the aim would be to stem the flow of refugee claimants.
“It’s a discussion we’re having with the Americans about the various techniques that could be pursued on both sides of the border to ensure security and integrity,” Goodale said.
The Conservatives called the discussions with the U.S. administration “too little, too late.”
“Not only are these discussions taking place too late, the Trudeau government has failed to be transparent,” immigration critic Michelle Rempel said in a statement.
She noted that Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen has stated since last fall and as recently as March 19 that the government had not
NOT ONLY ARE THESE DISCUSSIONS TAKING PLACE TOO LATE, THE TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO BE TRANSPARENT.
spoken to the United States about renegotiating the agreement.
“This is in direct contradiction to today’s reports that claim discussions began last September,” she said.
Although the bordercrossers were initially composed largely of Haitians fearing deportation by U.S. President Donald Trump, they have since grown to encompass other nationalities, including large numbers of Nigerians who entered the U.S. on tourist visas.
Last year, the RCMP intercepted 20,593 people at the Canada-U.S. border who subsequently claimed asylum. This is compared to 29,276 people who filed refugee claims through conventional means.
Already, RCMP “interceptions” of asylum seekers are more than twice what they were at this point in 2017, and officials are expecting as many as 400 border-crossers per day during the summer.
Many of those crossings are occurring at a single point on the Quebec/New York border that has become world-renowned as the easiest unauthorized route into Canada.