Recently there has been an influx of illegal immigrants walking into Canada from the United States. According to the RCMP more than 400 people have crossed the border illegally since Jan. 1; a substantial increase over the same time period last year.
Despite what the practitioners of the religion of global warming say, it gets a tad chilly in the Great White (obviously racist) North. Two illegals suffered severe frostbite after walking for seven hours to reach the border. The onset of spring and summer are only going to increase these numbers.
There are a lot of misconceptions floating around about how Canada can stem the tide of illegals crossing into Canada. These misconceptions are coming from politicians, pundits and others on social media. The reality is, short of building an impenetrable wall along the entire U.S./Canada border, it is virtually impossible to stop people from illegally entering Canada.
Misconception No. 1: The “loophole” in the Safe Third Country Agreement can be plugged
The agreement signed by Canada and the U.S. provides anyone who comes from one country to the other and applies for asylum must be sent back to make that claim in the country they just came from. If they have already been denied asylum in the first country, tough. But the agreement only applies to those who appear at a port of entry. It is not applicable to people who manage to get into the second country.
Many consider this to be a loophole that can be fixed. But this is not a loophole in the sense the signatories to the agreement never thought about it or some enterprising individual dreamed up a way to get around the agreement. The agreement is totally unworkable when applied to inland cases and closing this loophole would do absolutely no good.
Take a hypothetical case of an illegal immigrant from Somalia who is found in Toronto. It can never be proved he entered Canada directly from the United States. Even his admission he just arrived two hours ago is no good; all that means if he is deported from Canada he would rather go to the U.S. than be returned to Somalia. Even if it could be determined he had been in the United States, that is not proof he came directly from the U.S. He could have just returned from a terrorist training camp in the Middle East.
More importantly, he is already in Canada and has no status in the United States. The U.S. would never agree to take him and why should they. A port of entry case is different. There is direct proof the person drove, walked or flew to that port of entry from the United States. Even if a person lands at a Canadian airport, they are not considered to be technically in Canada until they clear immigration. They are still considered to be in the United States.
In short, there is no way this loophole could ever be plugged. And this works both ways. Canada would not accept an illegal immigrant from the United States simply because he or she claims they came from the U.S..
Misconception No. 2: People who enter Canada illegally should be charged and jailed
Under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, it is an offence for a person to breach any of the Act’s provision without exercising due diligence. People who illegally enter Canada can be charged under that general law and, upon conviction, are liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years in prison. But there is an exception to this.
Section 133 of the Act states no one who makes a refugee claim can be charged with illegal entry into Canada unless and until they are finally determined not to be a Convention refugee. This is in accordance with international law and its purpose is not to penalize legitimate refugees who are forced to seek protection from real persecution in their home country. These days it is easy to forget there are legitimate refugees who are able to make their way into Canada.
The reality is while the possibility of being convicted and jailed at some undetermined point in the future after their refugee claims are dismissed might scare snowflake college students, it will not deter those who are currently coming into Canada. At the stage they can be charged it is easier and cheaper to simply deport them rather than commence prosecutions.
Misconception No. 3: Canada should simply prevent illegal crossings
There is nothing Canada can do to prevent these entries short of building an impenetrable wall across the entire American/Canadian border. As those who are currently coming into Canada are making refugee claims, they are not trying to avoid detection. This is why we see pictures of these illegals running into the loving arms of RCMP officers. Placing more police and border officials at these crossing points will do nothing to stop them from coming.
Even if Canadian authorities are watching people approaching the border, they cannot physically stop them unless they (the police) enter the United States and restrain them, which they have no authority to do. If illegals are caught by American authorities approaching the Canadian border those authorities are not going to stop them. Why should they? They could detain them to see if they had any outstanding warrants for serious crimes but barring that, they will just let them go. Every person they let go is one more illegal immigrant the U.S. won’t have to worry about deporting.
Again, barring erecting an impenetrable wall across the entire border, there is no way people can be prevented from crossing illegally into Canada.
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Misconception No. 4: All of this is Trudeau’s fault
Yes, Trudeau did send out a tweet the day after Trump signed the executive order banning travel from seven predominately Muslim countries and yes, that tweet in effect said those who were banned by Trump are welcome in Canada. Others who feel they are persecuted are welcome too. But it is simplistic to think Trudeau’s tweet is the reason the number of illegal entries have surged during 2017.
The current Canadian law regarding immigration and refugees was enacted in 2002 when Jean Chrétien was in power. Trudeau made no major changes to the legislation; neither did Harper make any changes when he could have when he had a majority government. Yes, Trudeau could have changed it but he, like Harper before him, did not anticipate what is now occurring.
The reality is these people are not stupid. They either have friends or family who have immigrated to Canada or they have friends who have friends or family in Canada. They are well versed in the realities of whether they are better off in Canada or in the United States. And now they are seeing Canada is the better option.
The Trump presidency is the reason for the increase in illegal border crossings
It has always been better to be an illegal immigrant in the U.S. than in Canada. Being an “undocumented” something-or-other was almost a recognized status south of the border. During the Obama administration, an illegal could go on national television, brag about being illegal and end up with an invitation to the White House. As far as regulating their status goes, it has always been more difficult to make a successful asylum claim in the United States than it was to be found to be a Convention refugee in Canada. Many illegals in the United States didn’t even bother making claims for asylum because they could live quite nicely without going through a process that was probably going to result in an unfavourable outcome.
The reason why border crossings have increased is because Donald Trump is now president. Beginning with his entry into the Republican primaries, very few doubted he would do what he promised to do if he was actually elected. Despite what Canadian politicians are saying, what is happening now was easily foreseeable after November’s election.
Should Trump continue to take a hardline on illegals and increase the number of deportations, we can expect these border crossings to increase. It would not be surprising to see thousands of Mexicans leave the U.S. for Canada if they think there is a good chance they will be sent back to Mexico. And non-Mexicans who used to enter the U.S. from Mexico will simply continue to travel north.
Changing relevant Canadian laws would mean going against international law and international agreements. While this is possible, no one can actually believe the globalist Trudeau would ever do such a thing. It’s not going to happen.
The illegals will continue to come and the politicians will continue to wring their hands but there is no quick fix.
