By Canadian Press

CBSA has removed fewer than 900 of 45,0000 ‘irregular’ asylum seekers since 2017

Jun 28, 2019 | 11:53 AM

OTTAWA — New federal figures shows the Canada Border Services Agency has removed fewer than 900 asylum seekers who have crossed into Canada by exploiting a loophole in asylum laws.

Since early 2017, more than 45,000 migrants have arrived in Canada “irregularly” by entering the country through a forest path between New York State and Quebec — avoiding official border checkpoints where they would be turned away and told to file a refugee claim in the United States.

So far, only 866 have been removed from Canada after their refugee claims were rejected.

The Immigration Department says a big reason the number is so low is because removal orders can only be enforced once an asylum seeker has exhausted all legal avenues to try to remain in the country.

The avenues can include appeals of rejected claims, or undergoing a pre-removal risk assessments to determine whether sending a migrant back to their home country might put them in danger.

Missing Trio

Fort St. John RCMP looking for missing father and two children

23m ago

Caledonia Nordic Ski Club

Caledonia Nordic Ski Club prepare for another big national biathlon competition

16h ago

Police

Family grieving after man dies shortly after being in police custody

Nov 16, 2024

CBSA says these processes take time to complete and limit the ability to remove irregular migrants more quickly.

The Canadian Press