Thomas Homan, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s choice as border czar, speaks during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, on July 17.J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada should not have to shoulder the United States’ problems with border issues – and vice versa – adding that the U.S. needs to talk with Ottawa and work together if it wants issues affecting both countries addressed properly.
Last week, Tom Homan, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s choice as border czar, said the security of the northern border with Canada will be a priority for the incoming administration, along with deporting millions of undocumented migrants. He called on the Canadian government to enforce its own immigration laws to stop people, including alleged terrorists, from slipping across the border illegally into the U.S.
Mr. Miller said in an interview that he is planning to meet Mr. Homan for talks about security on the shared border. Fears about waves of migrants trying to cross illegally into Canada to escape deportation have been raised by Bloc Québécois MPs.
“The basic point is this: The U.S.’s problems shouldn’t be Canada’s to shoulder, and Canada’s problems shouldn’t be the U.S.’s to shoulder. That is an alignment of interests that does coalesce around the border and how it’s properly administered,” he said.
“If the U.S. wants to affect anything in its national interest that affects Canada, if it wants it done in a way that we agree with or properly done, it’s going to need to talk to us and work with us,” he added.
Mr. Miller’s remarks followed the third meeting of a cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations, reconstituted after the re-election of Mr. Trump.
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., was in Ottawa for the meeting and afterwards told reporters, “We’ve been talking a lot about the border.”
Mr. Trump has warned that an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally will be removed from the country in the biggest deportation in American history after he returns to the White House. On Monday, in a social-media post, Mr. Trump confirmed plans to declare a national emergency and use the U.S. military to deport undocumented residents.
Quebec Premier François Legault has called on Ottawa to do more to secure the shared border with the U.S. to prevent a surge of migrants. He and Bloc MPs have warned that migrants heading north may exploit a provision in the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., allowing those who manage to slip across the border illegally and evade the authorities for 14 days to claim asylum. The agreement requires those arriving at regular border crossings from the U.S. to be turned back.
Mr. Miller told The Globe and Mail that “plans are being made” to secure the border, but he didn’t want to disclose preparations and logistics to prevent people hoping to cross into Canada from “gaming” the system.
Asked if he plans to discuss revising the 14-day asylum-claim rule in the agreement in coming talks with the U.S., Mr. Miller replied: “We have to work with the U.S. to figure out what works and what doesn’t work.”
“As a general rule, the Safe Third Country Agreement has worked, to both sides’ benefit,” he said. “That 14- day issue works both ways. The reality is that people that come here in a regular fashion, that are subject to the Safe Third Country Agreement, will be returned.”
He said any changes to the agreement could take time to come into effect. “To the extent there are challenges, some of them require legislative changes, and we’ve seen with some changes that they do take time to work through the U.S. legislative process.”
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe was among the Bloc MPs to raise fears about the border in the Commons on Tuesday. He said Mr. Trump had this week doubled down on his plan to deport millions and there is every reason for Canada to fear an influx of migrants from the U.S., with human smugglers standing to profit.
“The government keep saying they’re ready for it, that they have a plan, but until we get a peek at it, how are we supposed to take their word for it?” Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe asked.
Conservative immigration critic, Tom Kmiec, accused the Liberals of making “our borders less secure.”
“In just the last few months, we have learned that the government allowed at least two ISIS terrorists into our country who had plans to carry out terror attacks in Canada and America who were stopped only thanks to law enforcement,” he said in a statement.