The Trudeau government is getting tougher on illegal immigrant refugees who come to Canada after having already sought asylum and been denied elsewhere.
The measure was quietly introduced in last month’s federal budget but was only widely noticed this week when Parliament was voting on an omnibus budget bill on Monday night, CBC News reports.
The legislation is an apparent response from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to combat Canada’s “border crisis,” as dubbed by the Official Opposition Conservatives. The crisis has resulted in more than 40,000 illegals arriving in Canada and jumping the official refugee queue over the last two years — the majority of whom entered via an abandoned road that straddles New York and Quebec.
Border Security Minister Bill Blair said the Canadian Federal Government is aiming to prevent repeat refugees or “asylum-shopping” that occurs when a migrant crosses into Canada illegally after having been denied refugee status in another country — usually the United States. (RELATED: Trudeau Blames Trump For Canada’s Illegal Immigrant Crisis)
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulates Bill Blair … REUTERS/Chris Wattie
“I can tell you we’ve been working very hard over the past several months to significantly reduce the number of people who are crossing our borders irregularly,” Blair said Tuesday in a news scrum. “There’s a right way to come to the country to seek asylum and/or to seek to immigrate to this country, and we’re trying to encourage people to use the appropriate channels … ”
The influx of illegal immigrants has remained a problem for the governing Liberal Party with voters, according to polls. The beginning of the flood of illegals coincided with Trudeau’s infamous #WelcomeToCanada tweet in January 2017 that suggested the refugees of the world had a home in Canada, even as Trump worked to secure American borders.
Cost is another factor. While illegals wait to see a refugee board, they receive accommodation, medical care and legal aid at taxpayer expense. The Trudeau government is even accommodating many of the migrants in three-star hotels because there are no vacancies in homeless shelters. The Opposition recently tabulated the cost to the taxpayer at well over $1 billion (CAD).
A group that stated they were from Haiti line up to cross the U.S.-Canada border into Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada, from Champlain in New York, Aug. 21, 2017. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi
The Trudeau government inserted the changes into the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and stipulates that any would-be refugees who arrive illegally into Canada will be refused entry if they have already sought asylum elsewhere. (RELATED: New York Residents Assist Illegal Immigrants Cross Into Canada)
Canada already turns back ineligible refugees to the United States under the terms of the Safe Third Country Agreement that exists between the two countries. But that treaty does not apply to people who illegally enter Canada at unofficial border crossings.