The tightly monitored and dangerous Canadian border with the United States has come back into the spotlight after more than a dozen people were apprehended attempting the risky journey into Canada – The Guardian reports
Two groups trying to enter Canada illegally were stopped by police in Alberta this week. One group had five youngsters who were unprepared for the weather, which can drop as low as -30C during this time of year. Reporters in Edmonton were informed by Assistant Commissioner Lisa Moreland that nine Venezuelans were discovered dragging luggage and stumbling through the snow. The gang traveled through “extremely cold” weather on their way to Alberta. Six adults from Jordan, Sudan, Chad, and Mauritius made up the second group, which was discovered in a forest close to Manitoba’s US border by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police plane. Neither group was dressed appropriately for the cold weather.
The Increase in Migration Following Trump’s Reelection
Donald Trump has focused on Canada’s border with the United States since he was elected, claiming that it is the source of illegal migration and massive amounts of fentanyl, both of which are unsupported by evidence.
According to US Customs and Border Protection, the number of individuals arrested for crossing the country’s northern border increased from 2,238 two years ago to 23,721 last fiscal year. In contrast, last year, 1.5 million people were apprehended by border officials near the Mexican border.
However, Canada’s federal government has promised Trump US$900 million in border investment, including two Black Hawk drones and helicopters, in an effort to placate the president. New resources have also been committed by provincial premiers.
Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta, announced earlier this year that her province will establish a new sheriff patrol force that would include multiple drug detecting canines, ten cold weather surveillance drones, and fifty armed sheriffs. Although none of the arrests are connected to recent border activities, Moreland stated that officers were “doing our part to secure the border.”
Political leaders in Canada were initially concerned that, as was the case during Trump’s first term, a wave of immigrants would flee north and cross unpatrolled portions of the 5,500-mile border after Trump won the election last year and pledged to implement the nation’s largest mass deportation.
“We witnessed fearmongering in the days and weeks following Trump’s victory,” stated Abdulla Daoud of the Montreal Refugee Center. “And none of that has ever materialized, including the notion that hundreds of thousands would visit the border.”
Many crossed the Roxham Road crossing, a narrow country road that served as a funnel for migrants attempting to safely traverse the world’s longest land border. In 2022, around 40,000 people used Roxham Road to enter Canada. Most asylum seekers are fleeing poverty, conflict, and political repression in Latin America, with some traveling from as far away as Afghanistan, Yemen, and Turkey. They are entering upstate New York’s woodlands, which have recently become a political hot zone.
That crossing was closed in 2023 after the United States and Canada extended the Safe Third Country Agreement to cover the whole land border instead of just official crossings.
Although the blockade prevented unauthorized crossings, the number of asylum requests at ports of entry has recently gone up. According to the data, 83% of them are successful in court. According to Daoud, most individuals who come to apply for asylum are in danger and are trying to escape persecution.