The Trudeau government is being cagey about what kind of border security talks it is having with the United States — but it’s apparently about reducing the number of illegal immigrants that continue to pour into Canada at illicit ports of entry.
“It’s a discussion that we’re having with the Americans about the various techniques that could be pursued on both sides of the border to ensure security and integrity,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told the Canadian Press.
According to a Reuters report, Canada is in negotiations with the Department of Homeland Secuirty and wants to amend the Safe Third Country Agreement to to include the entire U.S.-Canadian border. That would mean asylum seekers crossing the border anywhere from the U.S. could be automatically rejected as refugees instead of crossing illegally, getting arrested and then being assessed for their refugee status.
It’s this paradoxical loophole that provides the foundation for a border crisis that threatens to be even worse this summer than it was last year when tens of thousands of illegals crossed into Canada from New York using an long-abandoned road in southern Quebec.
Declaring the whole border a legimate border crossing is also what the oppositon Conservatives have been advocating for about a year — a positon reiterated last week when party Immigration Critic Michelle Rempel demanded the Liberal government act now to avoid another summer of illegal migration.
But Rempel isn’t holding her breath that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — who once tweeted that the refugees of the world were “welcome” in Canada — is serious about ending the flow of illegal immigrants
“Last week, Justin Trudeau voted against taking immediate action and tabling a plan to manage our borders and immigration system,” the Calgary Member of Parliament said in a statement on Tuesday. “Conservatives will continue to hold the Prime Minister accountable, and call for the entire Canada-U.S. border to be designated as an official port of entry.”