Ottawa asks to use provincial jails to house criminal asylum seekers fleeing United States

Technology

Open this photo in gallery:An RCMP Black Hawk helicopter, one of two the force is leasing as part of an effort to reinforce its Canada-U.S. border surveillance capability, in Ottawa on Jan. 17.Serge Gouin/The Canadian PressPublic Safety Minister David McGuinty is asking provinces for the use of their jails as part of a comprehensive border plan to deal with a possible surge of asylum seekers entering Canada illegally in hopes of escaping U.S. President Donald Trump’s mass deportation order.Mr. Trump has promised to deport 11 million migrants living illegally in the United States, which has prompted worries that potentially large numbers of migrants could cross into Canada. Of particular concern to the government and Canada Border Service Agency officers is what to do with violent criminals who are apprehended after they slip into Canada.Over the past two years, most provinces terminated their agreements to hold federal immigration detainees in provincial jails.“Those are concerns that we have brought forward to the CBSA as the union. We are not absolutely sure where they will be housed,” said Mark Weber, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union.Mr. McGuinty said he has reached out to provinces to ask them to reconsider.“It is an important issue that we are following up on. We have an agreement that remains with the province of Ontario, which is an important agreement because it is one of the three or four major crossing areas in the country,” the minister said.Canada has already been deploying sophisticated drones and Black Hawk helicopters to patrol the U.S.-Canada border as part of a response to Mr. Trump’s complaints about illegal migrants fleeing south. Mr. McGuinty said Ottawa is also employing infrared cameras at key border crossings and acquiring new technology such as mobile X-ray machines, and hand-held chemical analyzers.“This is more than just Black Hawks and drones,” he said. “It involves a whole security and co-operation approach.”In recent weeks, Mr. McGuinty said the number of asylum seekers from the United States has plummeted while those individuals with criminal records trying to enter the U.S. from Canada has dropped 97 per cent. He attributed the decline to new Canadian visa restrictions for Mexicans and stronger surveillance measures at the border.Kelly Sundberg, a former CBSA officer and now a professor of criminology at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said he expects “a significant increase” in U.S.-based migrants fleeing Mr. Trump’s crackdown.“There’s no doubt that coyotes will start moving people up here, probably at a premium,” he said, referring to human smugglers. Prof. Sundberg said organized criminals will be co-ordinating illegal movement of asylum seekers into Canada.Mr. Weber, the border office union president, said if Mr. Trump’s mass deportation efforts are as dramatic as he promised, “it could mean thousands upon thousands coming into Canada. That is absolutely possible.”Mr. McGuinty said that’s why the government is developing a comprehensive border plan. “We have seen no evidence of a surge but we are now waiting. It is early days. We will see what happens.”The public safety minister added, however, that while dangerous and violent asylum seekers might end up in detention, most people are being transferred back to the U.S. as part of a bilateral third-party agreement.He said RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme and Canada Border Services Agency president Erin O’Gorman have visited Washington regularly to meet U.S. counterparts and Trump administration officials.Once Kristi Noem, Mr. Trump’s nominee for Homeland Security Secretary, is confirmed, Mr. McGuinty said he also plans to visit Washington.Canada’s border measures include a crackdown on fentanyl production in this country and much more thorough checks at the border to stop opioids from flowing south of the border.Top officials from Health Canada are heading to Virginia shortly to get trained in new detection methods for fentanyl and Canada is setting up a series of special labs here to more accurately trace where fentanyl precursors are coming from.Mr. McGuinty noted that the RCMP recently broke up 44 illegal fentanyl labs across the country, including one in B.C. with 93 million doses of fentanyl.Canada has also launched its first preclearance operation in the U.S. as part of its plan to boost border security. The joint facility is at the Cannon Corners port of entry in New York, which is on the other side of the border from the Covey Hill port of entry in Quebec.Prof. Sundberg said Canada does not consistently patrol the border but instead shifts patrol resources to different areas when needed.“They have teams that sometimes will patrol areas of the border for targeted enforcement, but they’re not regularly enforcing the border.”Prof. Sundberg also said inland enforcement officers already have their hands full policing cases of visa holders including international students who overstay their authorization to remain in Canada and will be hard pressed to extend their vigilance to new migrants trying to sneak in Canada.“There’s roughly 400 officers responsible for investigating, finding these individuals, investigating them, processing them, and removing them,” he said.