A drone view of migrants sleeping in a sports park during their journey to the U.S. border, in Escuintla, Mexico on Nov. 8, 2024.Daniel Becerril/Reuters
Federal ministers came under pressure from MPs Thursday to explain how they plan to prevent an influx of asylum seekers from the United States after the election of Donald Trump, as a senior official at the Immigration and Refugee Board disclosed it now takes almost four years for asylum claims to be processed.
Roula Eatrides, deputy chairperson of IRB’s refugee protection division, told the Commons immigration committee Thursday that it now takes 44 months for a refugee claim to be dealt with after being referred to the board. She said the IRB has a record backlog of about 250,000 cases.
On Wednesday, immigration lawyer Richard Kurland told The Globe and Mail that because asylum claims take so long to process, undocumented migrants facing deportation from the U.S. may try to find a safe haven and “buy time” in Canada, though he said few are likely to have their claims approved.
During his campaign, Mr. Trump promised to conduct the largest deportation in American history of people living there illegally. On Thursday, Mr. Trump said he will move forward with that pledge. “Really, we have no choice,” he told NBC News. There are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the U.S.
The RCMP’s national headquarters confirmed Thursday it has a plan to deal with a predicted influx of migrants, informed by its experience of a surge during the first Trump presidency.
“In anticipation of the U.S. election, the RCMP worked through various scenarios in the event of a sudden increase in irregular migration between official ports of entry at the Canada-U.S. border,” Camille Boily-Lavoie, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said in a statement.
“Lessons learned from the migratory movement experienced by Canada between 2016 and 2023, which was in part related to the 2016 U.S. election, has provided us with the tools and insight necessary to address similar types of occurrences.”
Canada bolsters border security in preparation for surge of migrants facing deportation under Trump
In 2017, Haitians streamed into Canada from the U.S. after the first Trump administration ended temporary protected status for Haitians who had fled to the U.S. The policy sparked an influx of Haitians claiming asylum at the “irregular” Roxham Road border crossing into Quebec.
After talks with the U.S., Roxham Road was closed in 2023.
At a Thursday press conference in Parliament, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet predicted that the “saga of Roxham Road” could begin again. He raised concerns that within weeks migrants may begin crossing the border surreptitiously, and hiding before lodging asylum claims two weeks later.
“Once again the government is refusing to acknowledge an obvious and very serious situation,” he told reporters. He said Ottawa needed intelligence of the routes that people smugglers are using to cross the border, and to make sure that asylum claimants are spread throughout Canadian provinces, not just Quebec.
Bloc immigration critic Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe challenged the government in the Commons to say whether there are enough RCMP officers to patrol the U.S. border with Quebec. He said anyone who manages to illegally cross the border into Canada can make a refugee claim after being here for 14 days.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he had confidence in the RCMP’s preparations, adding that the Mounties and border services are “ready for any eventuality.”
“Plans have been in place for several months,” he added.
Trump vows ‘no price tag’ on plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants
Bloc MP Kristina Michaud said Quebec is so worried about border security that it is considering policing it itself. She was referring to remarks by Quebec Premier François Legault on Wednesday who said that, although border security is a federal responsibility, he would be prepared to send his own people to check the borders are being properly monitored.
Ms. Michaud criticized Mr. LeBlanc for telling MPs at a Commons committee earlier not to assume the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants before it becomes a real threat. She said it was the job of the government to see crises coming.
But Immigration Minister Marc Miller, in Question Period, warned against scaremongering, saying: “We have always managed the border well. We will continue to manage it well.”
At the Commons immigration committee, Conservatives tried to summon Mr. Miller to answer questions about border security after the U.S. election. The motion, which said Mr. Miller had declined to appear several times, was voted down by MPs.
Conservative Brad Redekopp said many people have questions about the implications of the U.S. election result on migration.
“Everybody is asking these questions: What will be the impact on Canada?” he said.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said Ottawa needed to prepare for the arrivals of migrants. She said most asylum seekers arriving at border points from the U.S. would be turned back because of the Safe Third Country Agreement. However, she questioned whether the U.S. should continue to be considered by Canada as a safe third country for migrants after Mr. Trump is sworn in as president.
She said during Mr. Trump’s previous administration, migrants facing deportation were separated from their children and, in some cases, “put in cages.” She added that during the campaign, Mr. Trump also used discriminatory language about undocumented residents.