(Ottawa) The Legault government is asking Ottawa to immediately adopt new control measures to curb the arrival of asylum seekers in Quebec.
Published at 6:00 a.m.
In a recent letter that he sent to his federal counterpart, Marc Miller, and to the Minister of Public Security, Dominic LeBlanc, the Minister of Immigration of Quebec, Jean-François Roberge, affirms that the imposition of A visa for Mexican nationals at the start of the year significantly reduced the number of asylum seekers from Mexico.
This type of measure should therefore be used to slow down asylum seekers from other countries, Mr. Roberge asserted in his letter, that The Press obtained.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
The Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Jean-François Roberge
In his missive, Mr. Roberge argues that the Quebec government fears a marked increase in asylum seekers due to President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to undertake the largest expulsion of immigrants who are in an irregular situation in the UNITED STATES. American authorities estimate the number of immigrants who find themselves in such a situation at nearly 11 million.
He said it is important that everything is done “to counter illegal immigration on both sides of the American border.”
“In addition to the increased vigilance and strengthening of border security that Quebec has requested from the federal government, it is essential to act upstream to better regulate the issuance of visas to foreign nationals who wish to stay in Canada », Supports Minister Roberge.
“To this day, asylum seekers arrive in large numbers in Quebec. […] Since the signing of the Additional Protocol to the Agreement on Safe Third Countries, applications filed in inland offices have experienced significant growth and now represent more than half of the asylum applications filed in Quebec,” he adds. .
Impose “additional constraints”
According to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the top 10 countries of origin for asylum seekers in Quebec are, in order, India, Mexico, Haiti, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana , the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Algeria and Guinea.
In 2023, Canada ranked fifth among countries having received the highest number of asylum requests, behind the United States, Germany, Egypt and Spain, according to a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner United for Refugees published in June.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory, the Trudeau government announced that it had developed scenarios to deal with a possible increase in asylum seekers.
According to Minister Roberge, the federal government must manage “more rigorously than ever” the issuance of visitor, study or work permits in order to curb this trend.
Thus, it would be useful to impose “additional constraints” on nationals from the 10 countries from which the majority of asylum seekers who set foot on Quebec soil come.
Mr. Roberge endorses proposals made publicly by the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, namely proof of purchase of a round trip ticket, financial verifications on assets, or even a security investigation deemed adequate .
These control measures would, according to Mr. Roberge, ensure that nationals “do not pose a security issue and do not behave in ways that could suggest that they intend to leave their country of origin. definitively.”
Measures are planned in Ottawa
Mr. Roberge sent this letter as the Council of the Federation meets in Toronto on Monday to discuss measures that the federal government should take to secure the Canada-US border.
Three weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican products if Canada and Mexico do not end what he calls the flow of drugs and immigrants across their borders.
The Trudeau government is planning a series of measures to tighten border security. During a virtual meeting of premiers last week, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc presented the plan estimated at $1 billion.
This plan is structured around four main axes: new measures to strengthen the detection of fentanyl at the border by customs agents, closer collaboration between the various police forces near the border, the purchase of new equipment such as drones and helicopters for aerial surveillance, and granting new powers to the Border Services Agency to inspect packages shipped abroad.
