Illegal immigrants are smuggled across the U.S.-Canada border by 'organized crime,' says document

AP Photo/Wilson Ring

Despite closing Roxham Road in March, the federal government has failed to secure Canada's borders from "organized criminal groups," who continue to traffic people and illegal goods across the U.S.-Canada border.

As first reported by Radio-Canada, criminal entities have established migration routes for illegal immigrants to enter Canada and the U.S. under a shroud of secrecy. These networks also use these routes to smuggle illicit goods such as drugs, tobacco and firearms into the country.

In April, Secretary to the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas passed confidential information to then Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino concerning cross-border crime.

According to Radio-Canada, the RCMP received the five-page document that detailed how Mexican cartels and organizations further to the south, have established a stronger foothold in Canada.

A few weeks after Ottawa and Washington amended the Safe Third Country Agreement, the RCMP warned the feds of the dangers along the Canada-U.S. border — contravening Ottawa's claim that amending the agreement would secure the 49th parallel.

The federal policing agency ascertained that criminals and illegal immigrants may be more motivated to enter Canada or the U.S. through more difficult means to avoid law enforcement and bypass the new agreement.

The document's author said it is very likely that smuggler networks would expand their operations and provide shelter, transport and fraudulent documents for illegal immigrants to enter Canada.

It also suggested that these criminal enterprises may also sexually or physically abuse them and compel them into forced labour — increasing the risk of injury and death.

At the end of March, eight illegal immigrants perished in a shipwreck trying to enter the U.S. along the St. Lawrence River.

"Transnational crime has no borders; we live in an increasingly larger and connected world. The passage of illegal immigrants is a global scourge that must be remedied with the help of both national and international measures," said RCMP spokesperson Marie-Eve Breton in a statement.

She maintains that the RCMP works with its Canadian and international partners to "identify organized crime groups and networks that are involved in the passage of illegal immigrants and to investigate these groups and networks."

The American authorities have arrested a record number of migrants crossing the border with Quebec in recent months.

According to the U.S. border police, they apprehended over 6,100 people in the past year — more than the previous 10 years combined.

With the number of illegal immigrants entering Canada by land falling precipitously since March, thousands more now arrive by air, mainly at the airports in Toronto and Montreal.

Upon arrival, many then request passage to New York State from Quebec despite the Roxham Road closure.