MP targets wrong info on Canadian immigration

OTTAWA • A Liberal MP is heading to Los Angeles this week for a pre-emptive strike against misinformation about Canada’s immigration system circulating in the Spanish-language press that officials worry could inspire a new wave of asylum seekers.

Central Americans have long been thought of as the next population primed to make the journey across the Canada-U.S. border due to major changes on the horizon in U.S. immigration policy.

That includes the potential end of temporary protected status for nearly 350,000 Salvadorans and Hondurans, meaning all could face deportation to their home countries.

Spanish-speaking MP Pablo Rodriguez had already been tapped as the likely federal point-person for outreach to Hispanics in the U.S., but his trip to L.A. on Friday has been given new impetus.

On Aug. 30, the Spanish-language publication La Prensa reported that the Canadian government was set to welcome Hondurans living in the U.S. with temporary protected status, quoting a community organizer who said he had been contacted by the Canadian Embassy to explore programs.

Except that never happened.

The piece mirrored those that had been circulating in Creole-language traditional and social media earlier this summer, cited by some of the Haitians who have arrived in Canada in recent weeks as the reason they decided to come north from the U.S.

Since July, some 7,000 asylum seekers have crossed into Canada from Quebec, the majority Haitian. The surge prompted the Liberal government to hastily arrange for a Creole-speaking MP to visit Miami to try to stem the flow of arrivals.

The number of people crossing per day currently sits at fewer than 100, from a high of more than 250 this summer. According to government sources, more than 60 people arrived Tuesday.

But the Liberals are mindful that a decline now doesn’t mean the problem is over. Rodriguez is being dispatched to “neutralize” any misunderstandings about Canada’s system before they gain too much ground, a senior government official said.

The Montreal MP, born in Argentina, will make the rounds of Hispanic media in L.A. as well as meet with members of the Honduran and El Salvadoran communities and local officials.

The La Prensa piece was spotted as a result of a much broader monitoring effort launched by the Liberal government at the height of the surge in Haitian arrivals in late July and early August.

Refugee claims by Salvadorans and Hondurans also appear to be increasing in Canada. In the first three months of 2017, 255 claims for asylum were lodged, compared to 380 in all of 2016.

Canada currently deports failed asylum claimants from El Salvador and Honduras back to their home countries.