Asylum figures show slower rate of irregular crossings

OTTAWA (CP) — Newly published government figures show fewer asylum-seekers crossing irregularly into Canada than last year, although June did see a small increase over other months this year. Last month, RCMP officers intercepted 371 more migrants trying to cross into Canada from the United States between official border checkpoints compared to May. June of this year also saw a small increase of over 300 irregular crossings compared to the same month of last year. But the overall totals show a downward trend this year versus last. Between January and June 2019, a total of 6,707 asylum seekers crossed irregularly into Canada, a 38-per-cent drop compared to the same period in 2018.