Canada sees 'unsustainable' spike in asylum seekers at U.S. border

[webfact]

Canada sees 'unsustainable' spike in asylum seekers at U.S. border

By Anna Mehler Paperny and Allison Lampert

 

FILE PHOTO: A line of asylum seekers who identified themselves as from Haiti wait to enter into Canada from Roxham Road in Champlain, New York, U.S., August 7, 2017. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo

 

TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - The number of asylum seekers who illegally crossed the U.S. border into Canada more than tripled last month, according to Canadian government data released on Thursday, as migrants worried about the U.S. administration's immigration crackdown head north.

 

More than 3,100 people walked across the border illegally in July to file refugee claims and were arrested, up from 884 in June, the federal government said.

 

Ninety-six percent of them went to Quebec, where an influx of asylum seekers, primarily Haitians, is sparking a backlash from opposition politicians and anti-immigrant groups in the primarily French-speaking province.

 

In the first 15 days of August, an additional 3,800 asylum seekers were arrested crossing the U.S. border into Quebec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. More than 1,000 people are living in tents and government facilities at a Lacolle, Quebec border crossing across from upstate New York.

 

"It's not a crisis. It's a situation that is extraordinary. But it's well-managed," Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters in Lacolle on Thursday.

 

Canada is struggling to house and provide social assistance for the influx of asylum seekers as its refugee system faces the worst delays in years.

 

The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), which is responsible for hearing all asylum claims, has redeployed resources to deal with the Quebec arrivals.

 

"The IRB had to make adjustments to be in a position to respond to the current situation that is clearly unsustainable," spokeswoman Anna Pape said in an email.

 

Canada has launched a campaign to counter misinformation about the country's refugee policy, which is believed to be one reason for the influx of refugees.

 

"Asking for asylum in Canada is not a guarantee for permanent residence in Canada, and it's extremely important we stress that," immigration ministry spokesman Louis Dumas told reporters.

 

Conservative parliamentarian Michelle Rempel, her party's immigration critic, said the government steps are a "band aid" solution.

 

"This situation started with Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau's irresponsible tweets and he has a responsibility to fix it," Rempel said in a statement, referring to January tweets Trudeau sent touting Canada's welcome of refugees after a U.S. travel ban was unveiled.

 

A Trudeau spokesman said the government has been consistent on the issue of refugees: "Canada welcomes immigrants ... that said, there are laws and processes in place for people seeking asylum and our government is sending a clear message."

 

Many of the most recent asylum seekers arriving in Quebec have been Haitians who face looming deportation from the United States when their temporary protected status expires in January 2018.

 

Canada ended its own ban on deportations to Haiti last summer. In the first quarter of this year, almost two-thirds of Haitian refugee claims were rejected, according to government figures.

 

The spike in asylum seekers has sparked protests by anti-migrant groups who say Canada is being soft on law-breakers.

 

The Montreal suburb of Boucherville has received dozens of messages on social media denouncing the asylum seekers, some of whom are being housed at a former seniors’ home in the quiet suburb, according to local media reports. Montreal, Quebec's biggest city, opened its Olympic Stadium to house the arrivals.

 

Sylvain Brouillette, a spokesman for right-wing extremist group La Meute, which is organising a Quebec City protest on Sunday, said his group is protesting the "policies of the Trudeau government toward illegal immigration."

 

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny and Allison Lampert; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Dan Grebler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-18

[canuckamuck]

What are borders for again?

World's gone completely insane.

It still takes a lot of work for Thais married to Canadians to get a freakin tourist visa. But if you just show up, I guess it's open arms and welfare too.

Trudeau should be at home pleasuring himself over the news though.

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed.  

[DoctorG]

You cannot lay out the welcome mat and expect people not to turn up.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

1 hour ago, canuckamuck said:

What are borders for again?

World's gone completely insane.

It still takes a lot of work for Thais married to Canadians to get a freakin tourist visa. But if you just show up, I guess it's open arms and welfare too.

Trudeau should be at home pleasuring himself over the news though.

 

I am thinking bringing my Thai wife to live with me in Canada, just to show her how easy it is to game the system.

 

She has a good job here, but I wonder if it's worth it considering she could just sit on her behind for 25 years and collect a pension when she gets old.

 

 

 

 

[realenglish1]

Canada is going to have massive problems because of  the refugees Mark my words Come back to this post in a   couple of years

 

Way to go Trudeau  You're a buffoon 

[bert bloggs]

My wife lived in the UK for 9 years has an NI number and had permanent leave to remain ,but because we have lived in Thailand for 10 years she cannot come back to live if we want to return ,because i dont get 18600 pounds a year , so ,Dover and back of lorry it is ,lol , 

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

You cannot lay out the welcome mat and expect people not to turn up.

Did you read the article? It did say that over 2/3 o Haitians refugee claims have been rejected. Where is the welcome mat?

[maximillian]

A huge country is crying about less than 4.000 refugees. We are a truely, lovely christian society.

[mikebike]

3 minutes ago, maximillian said:

A huge country is crying about less than 4.000 refugees. We are a truely, lovely christian society.

You didn't read it did you.

[kamahele]

Canada is going to build a wall an make America pay for it....

[maximillian]

8 minutes ago, mikebike said:

You didn't read it did you.

Didn't I ?

 

>>>The spike in asylum seekers has sparked protests by anti-migrant groups who say Canada is being soft on law-breakers.<<<

 

Some xenophobic comments from TV members above make me shudder.

 

[mikebike]

6 minutes ago, maximillian said:

Didn't I ?

 

>>>The spike in asylum seekers has sparked protests by anti-migrant groups who say Canada is being soft on law-breakers.<<<

 

Some xenophobic comments from TV members above make me shudder.

 

So you equate a group of protesters opinions with that of a "huge country". Obviously, that makes perfect sense.

[hdkane]

Trudeau seemed to enjoy making the US appear as intolerant...so now it's "put up or shut up" time...I had a brief conversation with a rather uninformed/stupid/ignorant fellow from Canada once, who thought the US was being racist for not taking immigrants from certain countries...

 

The entire country of Canada has as many illegal immigrants as the CITY of los angeles...the US takes in as many immigrants in a few days as Canada accepts in about a year...so it is really easy for them to not fully grasp the problem of bringing or accepting people from different parts of the world...many of them with no discernible skills to contribute to the US economy or society...the ten most populous cities in the US have literally millions of immigrants, and only a small percentage possess skills that are not plentiful among native born citizens...the majority of immigrants become a burden on the economy, because their contributions are greatly overshadowed by their consumption of government funded programs (e.g., housing, medical care, and subsidies)... each year, NYC spends about 4,500 usd for each immigrant, just on subsidized health care, for example...

 

it's easy to be liberal or accepting when you are not really affected by an issue...

 

Trudeau and others aren't really liberal or accepting, but they like to appear that way, for their own smug image.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

1 hour ago, maximillian said:

A huge country is crying about less than 4.000 refugees. We are a truely, lovely christian society.

 

No, we are not.

[ilostmypassword]

38 minutes ago, hdkane said:

Trudeau seemed to enjoy making the US appear as intolerant...so now it's "put up or shut up" time...I had a brief conversation with a rather uninformed/stupid/ignorant fellow from Canada once, who thought the US was being racist for not taking immigrants from certain countries...

 

The entire country of Canada has as many illegal immigrants as the CITY of los angeles...the US takes in as many immigrants in a few days as Canada accepts in about a year...so it is really easy for them to not fully grasp the problem of bringing or accepting people from different parts of the world...many of them with no discernible skills to contribute to the US economy or society...the ten most populous cities in the US have literally millions of immigrants, and only a small percentage possess skills that are not plentiful among native born citizens...the majority of immigrants become a burden on the economy, because their contributions are greatly overshadowed by their consumption of government funded programs (e.g., housing, medical care, and subsidies)... each year, NYC spends about 4,500 usd for each immigrant, just on subsidized health care, for example...

 

it's easy to be liberal or accepting when you are not really affected by an issue...

 

Trudeau and others aren't really liberal or accepting, but they like to appear that way, for their own smug image.

Your financial numbers sound like they come from FAIR which is a notoriously dishonest organization.

[Bullie]

So now Canada is maybe slowly waking up to the fact that maybe it is not such a good idea to have an open door policy. Easy to sustain when no one comes knocking, harder when the trickle turns into a flow.

In Northern Europe most people (80 %) are now fully convinced that basically the door should be shut, with the exception of really hard cases that will have to apply from abroad. Turning up at the doorstep should lead to an immediate denial of asylum, and denial of acces to any benefits.

Present policies. such as the fact that if you have one foot on our soil you are automatically entitled to a full asylum procedure, simply are outdated and do not work.

If sustained it will inevitably lead to the disrupture of the fabric of our society, because it will become financially unsustainable to absorb so many people that will never (90%) contribute to our society.

Any monies spent on migrants in our countries could be spent much better in their home, or neighbouring countries where it will have much more impact in the longrun.

 

Am I my brother's keeper? yes, I am. But only up to a point.

[hawker9000]

Geez.  The U.S. borders are so porous and immigration enforcement so deficient that the problem just flows right through to the Canadian border - more than 2200 miles further up the road.   But heaven forbid we should build a credible fence to deal with it.   Canada says it's "unsustainable" for THEM; can you imagine how small the fraction of what THEY'RE dealing with compared to what's happening at the U.S.-Mexican border?!

 

 

 

 

[ilostmypassword]

2 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

Geez.  The U.S. borders are so porous and immigration enforcement so deficient that the problem just flows right through to the Canadian border - more than 2200 miles further up the road.   But heaven forbid we should build a credible fence to deal with it.   Canada says it's "unsustainable" for THEM; can you imagine how small the fraction of what THEY'RE dealing with compared to what's happening at the U.S.-Mexican border?!

 

 

 

 

You've got a plan for this credible fence? Or wall? Because Trump's plan won't do much.

[nontabury]

5 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

My wife lived in the UK for 9 years has an NI number and had permanent leave to remain ,but because we have lived in Thailand for 10 years she cannot come back to live if we want to return ,because i dont get 18600 pounds a year , so ,Dover and back of lorry it is ,lol , 

 

5 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

My wife lived in the UK for 9 years has an NI number and had permanent leave to remain ,but because we have lived in Thailand for 10 years she cannot come back to live if we want to return ,because i dont get 18600 pounds a year , so ,Dover and back of lorry it is ,lol , 

Good point, but why did she not acquire citizenship at that time.

[Orton Rd]

On what basis are these people asylum seekers, asylum from being illegals in another country ? Sounds like an abuse of the asylum system, if there is still one. Asylum used to be for spys and ballet dancers, now it's anyone who fancies living elsewhere but who cannot possibly get a visa to

Edited August 18, 2017 by Orton Rd

[iReason]

15 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

On what basis are these people asylum seekers, asylum from being illegals in another country ?

Sounds like an abuse of the asylum system, if there is still one.

 

Why ask the question?

If only to put forth your conjecture as an answer?

 

Some kind of an internal discussion?

[Bullie]

8 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

My wife lived in the UK for 9 years has an NI number and had permanent leave to remain ,but because we have lived in Thailand for 10 years she cannot come back to live if we want to return ,because i dont get 18600 pounds a year , so ,Dover and back of lorry it is ,lol , 

There is a rather easy option open until the end of this year, you can take up living in Spain for instance. After approx. 6 months of residence there you should then be able to enter the UK as a European citizen ( and bring your wife with you).

[billd766]

7 hours ago, maximillian said:

Didn't I ?

 

>>>The spike in asylum seekers has sparked protests by anti-migrant groups who say Canada is being soft on law-breakers.<<<

 

Some xenophobic comments from TV members above make me shudder.

 

 

Did you miss the part here.

 

" In the first 15 days of August, an additional 3,800 asylum seekers were arrested crossing the U.S. border into Quebec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. "

 

That is 7,600 a month or 91,200 a year. Not quite the same as 3,800 is it?

[Scott]

4 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

On what basis are these people asylum seekers, asylum from being illegals in another country ? Sounds like an abuse of the asylum system, if there is still one. Asylum used to be for spys and ballet dancers, now it's anyone who fancies living elsewhere but who cannot possibly get a visa to

In general, people seeking asylum should apply at the first country that is a signatory to the UN Conventions on Refugees.   In the case of many of these people, their refugee claim had not been finalized, but because of the strong rhetoric from the US President, they felt they could not get a fair hearing and moved on to Canada.

 

It is not technically 'illegal' to do so, from the refugee point of view, but it is not the proper step to take.   Although it might not play well with the people processing their claim.   Much of this depends on the political climate, just as it did with those who fled military service during the Vietnam war, although those fleeing the draft were allowed to stay, but weren't considered refugees under the Geneva Convention.

 

In the case of some of these people, they most likely gained access to the country legally, but may have a very weak asylum claim and felt they had a better shot at not being deported by the Canadian authorities.  

 

Canada would have a hard time returning them to the US as US immigration is not going to allow them in once they have left the country.  

 

Refugee Status is not just for spies and ballet dancers, by the way.  

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

Did you miss the part here.

 

" In the first 15 days of August, an additional 3,800 asylum seekers were arrested crossing the U.S. border into Quebec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. "

 

That is 7,600 a month or 91,200 a year. Not quite the same as 3,800 is it?

Looks like you yourself missed some parts as well. What happened in July?

[USPatriot]

Canada is going to regret this

[billd766]

15 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Looks like you yourself missed some parts as well. What happened in July?

 

More than 3,100 went to Canada, up at least 2,216 more than June. And in ONLY 15 days of August at least 700 more walked over the border than went in the whole of July and that was nearly 3,000 more than in June.

 

Those are the figures from the OP. Could you not manage to read them yourself?

 

If you can extrapolate those figures then you would see and increase of 350% in July over June, and something around 245% In August over July, or if you want to be picky you could also say that there was an increase of 863% between June and August.

[Orton Rd]

2 hours ago, Scott said:

 

Refugee Status is not just for spies and ballet dancers, by the way.  

Refugee is not the same as asylum seekers, were you one yourself?

[Scott]

Just now, Orton Rd said:

Refugee is not the same as asylum seekers, were you one yourself?

No, but I spent many years in the field of Immigration, asylum and refugee services, including the screening of asylum claims in a number of countries.   

 

An asylum seeker is provided a certain level of protection from deportation and other adverse affects until their claim is assessed and they are considered a genuine refugee or denied and are eligible for deportation.