World

Trudeau Blames Trump For Canada’s Illegal Immigrant Crisis

Global News screenshot

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
Font Size:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is blaming President Donald Trump and his “domestic realities” for the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants coming into Canada.

Trudeau made the comments Friday during a year-end interview with Global News.

Dubbed a “border crisis” by the Official Opposition Conservatives, an increasing number of Canadians are also concerned about the steady stream of illegals coming into Canada, according to polls. The flood of would-be refugees began shortly after Trudeau issued the now infamous #WelcomeToCanada tweet in January 2017 that invited the refugees of the world to come to Canada, even as Trump aimed to tighten American borders.

A group that stated they were from Haiti line up to cross the U.S.-Canada border into Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada, from Champlain in New York, August 21, 2017. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

A group that stated they were from Haiti line up to cross the U.S.-Canada border into Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada, from Champlain in New York, Aug. 21, 2017. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

But Trudeau blamed the U.S. for the migrants coming north in the Global News interview.

“If people are in the midst of migration around the world right now, it’s not because of a tweet restating — almost word for word — Canadian policy on refugees, because that’s exactly what it was,” he told the network.

“And certainly, if people are fleeing the United States right now and are choosing to leave the United States right now, it’s not something I said. It is perhaps domestic realities within the political context in the United States that is driving people to move or to make those certain decisions.” (RELATED: New York Residents Assist Illegal Immigrants Cross Into Canada)

While the illegals sit in Canada waiting to see a refugee board, they receive accommodation, medical care and legal aid at taxpayer expense. Many are staying in three-star hotels because migrants have already eliminated any vacancies in homeless shelters. The Opposition has tabulated the cost to the federal government at over $1 billion (CAD).

Trudeau is also an enthusiastic advocate of the United Nations Global Compact on Migration that the United States has rejected on the grounds that it could inhibit national sovereignty. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer pleaded with Trudeau to reject the treaty but the prime minister would not hear of it. He thinks the Conservative opposition to the pact is “dangerous.” (RELATED: Conservatives Tell Trudeau To Stop UN From Making Immigration Policy For Country)

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer asks questions in the House of Commons, Ottawa, Ont., Dec. 4, 2018. Global News screenshot

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer inquires about the UN Global Pact on Migration in the House of Commons, Ottawa, Ont., Dec. 4, 2018. Global News screenshot

“We see a political party going to a place that no mainstream political party in Canada has gone before, which is playing a very, very dangerous game of starting to turn Canadians against immigration,” he told Global News.

Follow David on Twitter