Threats from Trump: Ottawa increases the number of agents at the border

The response was quick. Just a few days after US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian products due in particular to “illegal immigrants” from Mexico and Canada, Ottawa will increase its resources at the border .

In an internal memo obtained by -, the management of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the Eastern Quebec region assures that each program will contribute 25% of its regular membership to support [la protection et l’intégrité de la frontière].

However, no precise number of additional agents or timetable is mentioned.

This decision is made facing pressures from the three priorities – Border Integrity, Protection and National Securitywe can read in this document dated November 27. The RCMP is committed to responding proactively, while working towards a lasting solution.

At the border level, although the situation remains stable, a contingency plan is in place to react quickly to any major change.

Obviouslycontinues this note, the operations of the coming months will be evaluated according to their evolution.

Contacted by -, the RCMP assures that this measure is not “out of the ordinary”.

Workforce adjustments based on operational needs are one of our standard practices. We cannot specify the number of police officers that this measure represents.indicates the spokesperson for the organization, Martina Pillarova, maintaining that these “temporary” reassignments could also target “other sections of the Federal Police”.

The objective of the contingency plan is to anticipate, coordinate and effectively manage a possible large flow of migrants at the Canada-US border, to guarantee a humanitarian reception while preserving public security and order.

This region, in the south of Quebec, is the most affected by the number of illegal crossings from Canada to the United States.

As multiple - investigations have revealed, this sector is frequently used by different criminal groups, who use Canada as a gateway to access New York State.

Through smuggling networks, many migrants arrive at Montreal and Toronto airports, before being taken to forest roads along the border. Indian smugglers also offer their service on social networks and promise guaranteed passages in exchange for several thousand dollars.

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Spectacular increase in crossings to the United States

While RCMP interceptions of people coming from the United States remain marginal, the opposite situation is radically different.

Over the past two years, the number of illegal crossings from Quebec to the United States has seen a spectacular jump, going from around 2,000 people apprehended by American police during 2022 to nearly 18,000 people for the first 10 months of the current year.

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Every day, American agents, as - observed this spring, arrest dozens of Indians and Bangladeshis who leave the Quebec-American woods, before taking to the grounds of increasingly exasperated and worried residents. .

A record peak was even reached in June, with more than 3,300 interceptions in the area that American agents call the Swanton sector, which runs along southern Quebec and covers northern New York State as well as Vermont.

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Limited workforce, American anger

Despite this record number, the RCMP has until now limited personnel to stop the phenomenon.

According to our information, in southern Quebec, to cover an area of ​​approximately 160 km, there are sometimes only 6 agents per shift.

Further east, according to our sources, only two or three vehicles can be on the ground to monitor dozens of kilometers, often filled with fields and woods.

Certain areas are therefore sometimes neglected, due to lack of means and human resources, and they are well known to smugglers, who would take advantage of the situation, we were told.

On numerous occasions, despite a call for help from elected officials and Quebec citizens, Ottawa has nevertheless assured that the RCMP has sufficient personnel at the border.

This problem has also been denounced for months by American politicians, whether Republican or Democrat.

Just appointed by Donald Trump responsible for border-related issues, Republican elected official Tom Homan (New window)recently criticized the enormous national security problem on the Canadian-American border.