Refugee claimants from U.S. strain
Canada's border resources
Send a link to a friend
[February 21, 2017]
By Allison Lampert
HEMMINGFORD, Quebec (Reuters) - Canadian
police said on Monday they had bolstered their presence at the Quebec
border and that border authorities had created a temporary refugee
center to process a growing number of asylum seekers crossing from the
United States.
The Canada Border Services Agency, or CBSA, said at a news conference
that it had converted an unused basement into a refugee claimant
processing center. Both the border agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police are reassigning staff from other locations in the province, as
needed, to accommodate rising demand.
The CBSA said the number of people making refugee claims at Quebec-U.S.
border crossings more than doubled from 2015 to 2016. Last month, 452
people made claims in Quebec compared with 137 in January 2016, the
agency said.
The influx is straining police, federal government and community
resources from the western prairie province of Manitoba, where people
arrive frostbitten from hours walking in freezing conditions, to Quebec,
where cabs drop asylum seekers off meters away from the
Quebec-U.S.border, the border agency said.
Canadian Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen's office did not respond to a
request for comment on Monday.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Feb/21/images/ads/current/ema_sda_WELLNESS_2017.png)
A Reuters reporter on Monday saw RCMP officers take in for questioning a
family of four - two men, a woman and a baby in a car seat - who had
walked across the snowy gully dividing Roxham Road in Champlain, New
York, from Chemin Roxham in Hemmingford, Quebec.
"Please explain to her that she's in Canada," one Canadian officer told
another officer.
Police take people crossing the border in for questioning at the border
agency's office in Lacolle, Quebec, which is the province's biggest and
busiest border crossing. Police identify them and ensure they are not a
threat or carrying contraband.
They are then transferred to the CBSA for fingerprinting and further
questions. If people are deemed a threat or flight risk, they are
detained. If not, they can file refugee claims and live in Canada while
they wait for a decision
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/022117pics/news_f9.jpg)
A woman from a family of four is taken into custody by Royal
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers after crossing the
U.S.-Canada border into Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada February 20,
2017. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Feb/21/images/ads/current/Symphony_lda_2017.png)
"It's touching, and we are not insensitive to that," Bryan Byrne,
the RCMP's Champlain Detachment commander, told reporters near the
border. "Some of these people had a long journey. Some are not
dressed for the climate here."
Asylum seekers cross illegally because Canada's policy under the
Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement is to turn back refugees if
they make claims at border crossings. But as U.S. President Donald
Trump cracks down on illegal immigrants, Amnesty International and
refugee advocacy groups are pressuring the Canadian government to
abandon the agreement, arguing the United States is no safe haven.
On Monday, Montreal, Canada's second most populous city, voted to
declare itself a "sanctuary city," making it the fourth Canadian
city to protect illegal immigrants and to provide services to them.
(Additional reporting and writing by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto;
Editing by Diane Craft and Peter Cooney)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Feb/21/images/ads/current/graue_17_cruze_110716.png) |