Thousands of migrants scared of deportation by President Trump are fleeing to the Great White North, leading to a surge in asylum seekers to Canada not seen in years.
At least 1,411 migrants attempted to cross the border in upstate New York alone in the first two weeks of April, according to data from the Canadian Border Services Agency.
That’s more than the entire month of March, when 1,356 people made the journey, which was already double the average of the previous months.
And this is just the number of people turning themselves into Canadian authorities to claim asylum — the actual number of border-crossers is likely higher, with many trying to illegally penetrate the largely unguarded border.
The majority of those fleeing the US are Haitians trying to head to French-speaking Quebec.
But unlike during the first Trump administration – when former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed migrants with open arms – this time around, Canada’s saying no thanks.
“There are limits,” Mark Carney, Trudeau’s successor, said at a leader’s debate in Montreal this week. “We have to be human – but realistic. Canada can’t accept everyone.”
So far this year, 1,130 asylum-seekers were sent back to the US by Canadian authorities.
The surge follows Trump’s threats to go after some 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, who had been granted legal status during the Biden era.
The Department of Homeland Security said it was terminating the scheme – known as the CHNV parole program, arguing there were no urgent humanitarian reasons warranting their continued presence in the US, like Biden had claimed.
A Boston federal judge issued a preliminary injunction this week to block the termination of the CHNV program, but the administration is not having it.
“While this ruling delays justice and undermines the integrity of our immigration system, Secretary Noem will use every legal option at the Department’s disposal to end this chaos, prioritizing the safety of Americans,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post, calling the Biden-era program “an unlawful scheme to unleash . . . poorly vetted aliens into America.”
Because of the Safe Third Country Agreement between the US and Canada, migrants can’t legally claim asylum in Canada if they’ve arrived via the US, on the basis that both are safe countries and they should make a claim wherever they arrive first. The agreement only allows for exceptions if the asylum seeker has a family member who is a permanent resident or citizen of Canada.
The Canadian Border Services Agency has vowed to step up removals, and says it’s deployed more resources to the border to deal with the increased influx.
“The CBSA has increased removals of inadmissible people from Canada – the most in a decade,” the agency said. “If a person fails to meet an exception… he or she will be returned to the United States.”
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