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Federal border agents processed a record number of asylum claims last year at airports, following the closure of Roxham Road last March.

According to recent Immigration data, 41,350 asylum claims were made at airports last year. More than half of the claimants landed at Montreal-Trudeau Airport, dubbed the “new Roxham Road”.

Despite the closure of Roxham Road on March 24, 2023, thousands more now arrive by air, mainly at the airports in Toronto and Montreal.

Canadian airports are currently on pace for another record year in 2024, processing 31,000 asylum claims between January and July — three times the number that have been processed at land ports of entry.

A source with knowledge of screening procedures told the National Post that border agents have limited time to spend with each person entering the country. 

Time constraints force airport screeners to “shunt people onto the next stage of assessment,” usually their admissibility hearing, and “hope they’re vetted more closely later on,” the source said.

Those who land at Trudeau Airport without securing accommodation beforehand seek government-run shelter, courtesy of the Regional Program for the Settlement and Integration of Asylum Seekers (PRAIDA).

Refugee claimants accessing government-assisted or private sponsorship streams wait 26 to 30 months to access support.

Asylum seekers can stay in Canada until the feds determine their refugee status. The typical claim takes two years to process.

Unsuccessful applicants face deportation orders but they can first appeal their decision, if they choose. A typical appeal takes no more than one year to sort out.

Canada border agents processed no less than 3,420 applications at “air points” in Québec from last May through December. That includes the Montreal-Trudeau Airport, now dubbed the “new Roxham Road”.

Québec Premier François Legault said the closure of Roxham Road only “momentarily” slowed the flow of migrants to his province.

The province’s immigration ministry has observed a huge uptick in total refugee claims over the past two years, up from 10,085 in 2021 to 59,640 last year. 

In January, he penned an urgent letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau concerning the growing number of Mexican nationals seeking asylum in the province.

“Mexican nationals represent a growing proportion of the asylum seekers arriving in Quebec, the possibility of entering Canada from Mexico without a visa certainly explains part of the flow of asylum seekers,” Legault wrote.

Immigration figures last September 30 revealed that refugee claims by Mexican nationals numbered 22,875 last year — the highest of any country, including Haiti (16,693 claims), and Colombia (9,754).

They previously peaked in 2009 (9,511), prompting the previous Conservative cabinet to impose visa requirements that the Trudeau government repealed eight years ago. 

The decision to lift the visa rule cost taxpayers $61.7 million annually, according to the immigration department.

The number of Mexican refugee claims in Canada has risen dramatically since 2016 (250), prompting the Trudeau government to reinstate Mexican visa requirements in February.

Canada’s intake of Mexican asylum seekers more than doubled each year from 2016 to 2023.

On October 24, 2023 testimony to the Commons immigration committee, Minister Marc Miller said it appeared Mexican drug cartels contributed to the flood of new refugee claims. “We are very much aware of potential criminality,” he said.

The RCMP last September 25 told Rebel News that investigations are underway into the matter. Criminal entities established migration routes for illegal immigrants to enter Canada under a shroud of secrecy.

The RCMP received a five-page document from the Biden administration detailing how Mexican cartels and “organized criminal groups” to the south have established a stronger foothold in Canada. These networks also smuggle contraband into the country through these routes, such as drugs, tobacco and firearms.