Canadian police and migrant aid organizations are preparing for a potential influx of asylum-seekers fleeing to Canada as President-elect Donald Trump returns to power in the United States.
This development comes as Canada grapples with record refugee claim numbers and an aim to reduce immigration.
Trump, the former and now future U.S. president, won this week’s election with a platform that includes enacting the largest deportation effort in American history, raising concerns among Canadian authorities about a new wave of border crossings.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have been preparing for months, said RCMP Sergeant Charles Poirier on Thursday.
“We knew a few months ago that we had to start prepping a contingency plan because if he comes into power, which now he will in a few months, it could drive illegal migration and irregular migration into (the province of) Quebec and into Canada,” Poirier told Reuters.
The worst-case scenario, Poirier explained, would be a surge of people crossing into Canada.
“Let’s say we had 100 people per day entering across the border, then it’s going to be hard because our officers will basically have to cover huge distances in order to arrest everyone,” he said.
During Trump’s first term in 2017, thousands of asylum-seekers crossed the Canadian border outside formal checkpoints to file refugee claims, most often at Roxham Road near the Quebec-New York border.
However, Roxham Road is no longer an option for would-be asylum-seekers, following a bilateral agreement between Canada and the U.S. This pact, which now applies to the entire 4,000-mile border, mandates that asylum-seekers trying to cross outside formal checkpoints be turned back unless they qualify for a narrow exemption.
Now, those who attempt to cross into Canada undetected must evade authorities and hide for two weeks before they can safely seek asylum – a high-risk approach, say immigrant advocates.
“When you don’t create legitimate pathways, or when you only create pathways where people have to do the impossible to receive safety, you know, unfortunately, people are going to try to do the impossible,” said Abdulla Daoud, director of The Refugee Centre in Montreal, which provides support services for migrants.
As these pressures mount, Canadian police are on “high alert,” prepared to mobilize additional resources if the need arises, Poirier added. This could mean deploying hundreds of extra officers, increasing patrols with additional cruisers, chartering buses, and even setting up temporary facilities near the border.
“All eyes are on the border right now. … We were on high alert, I can tell you, a few days before the election, and we’ll probably remain on alert for the next coming weeks,” Poirier said, underlining the tense anticipation among Canadian Police amid Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown threat.