Ottawa opened the floodgates to 'fraudulent' refugee claims by Mexican nationals

In testimony last October 24, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said it appeared Mexican drug cartels played a role in the flood of new refugee claims. Department of Immigration figures showed that refugee claims by Mexican nationals numbered 22,875 — the highest of any country.

  • By Alex Dhaliwal
  • January 26, 2024
  • News
Ottawa opened the floodgates to 'fraudulent' refugee claims by Mexican nationals
AP Photo/Felix Marquez
Remove Ads

The Trudeau Liberals are remaining tight-lipped on the growing number of Mexican nationals seeking asylum in Canada, amid concerns that Mexican drug cartels may be involved.

As reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, Department of Immigration figures last September 30 showed 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).

Mexican refugee claims in 2009 peaked at 9,511 prompting the previous Conservative cabinet to impose visa requirements — which the Trudeau Liberals repealed in 2016. 

In testimony last October 24 to the House of Commons immigration committee, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said it appeared Mexican drug cartels played a role in the flood of new refugee claims. "There are certain facts I can’t disclose publicly but we are looking into them," he said.

"Should something be done about visas for Mexican nationals?" asked Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe. "We are always very much aware of potential criminality," replied Miller.

"There are concerns at the border with respect to Mexican cartels?" asked Brunelle-Duceppe again. "There are concerns about all forms of criminality at the border," dodged the minister.

"But Mexican cartels at the border are part of it are they not?" asked Brunelle-Duceppe a third time. "Yes, among others," Miller firmly said.

Rebel News inquired with the RCMP last September 25, with the Mounties confirming investigations were under way into the matter.

"It has been conveyed that the Mexican cartels are in human smuggling operations in Canada," confirmed RCMP spokesperson Sergeant Charles Poirier last September 25.

As first reported by Radio-Canada, 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.

"Because of the lucrative nature, it’s probable that organized crime is behind some of those smuggling operations. But the investigations will reveal that in due time," said Sgt. Poirier.

Meanwhile, the number of Mexican refugee claims in Canada has risen dramatically since 2016, prompting urgent calls from Opposition MPs to reinstate visa requirements for Mexican visitors. 

"They must take action to fix it," said Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre, referencing the need to curb further abuse of Canada’s asylum system.

"In 2016 the Trudeau government lifted visa requirements … leading to increasing fraud and abuse in the asylum system, straining Canada's ability to provide services and creating long processing delays for legitimate asylum seekers," he said.

At the time, then-immigration Minister John McCallum acknowledged "there were risks" in lifting the requirement but did not elaborate, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

"We welcome the [Mexican] tourists. We welcome their expenditures," he said. "We welcome closer ties with our NATO partner."

Mexico vehemently opposed the visa rule as "demeaning," Jesus Reyes-Heroles, former Mexican Ambassador to the United States, wrote in a 2014 commentary.

"Few decisions have received as much condemnation as the establishment by the Canadian government of visas for Mexicans," he said. "This requirement responded to an alleged abuse by Mexicans who embraced Canadian asylum."

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

In response, the Trudeau Liberals are reconsidering its elimination of the Conservative directive on visas before Mexican nationals board flights to Canada. 

"It is nothing I can talk about publicly at the moment," Miller told reporters on Thursday. "Know that we will do the work in a reasoned manner. Mexico is a very, very important trading partner," he said.

On January 21, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told CBC News they have joined forces with the department of immigration "to ensure that people who arrived from Mexico arrived for the appropriate reasons." 

"We’re looking … to ensure that these flights directly from Mexico don’t become sort of an indirect way to get access to Canada and to claim asylum," he said.

The policy consideration follows an urgent letter from Québec Premier François Legault to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week 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," he said.

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

Canada border agents processed no less than 3,420 applications at "air points" in Québec since last May, including the Montreal-Trudeau Airport — dubbed the "new Roxham Road."

Legault said the closure of Roxham Road only "momentarily" slowed the flow of migrants to his province.

Canada Immigration Mexico Dominic LeBlanc news Roxham Road Trudeau Must Resign Marc Miller
Remove Ads
Remove Ads

Don't Get Censored

Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.

Subscribe via RSS
Remove Ads

Don't Get Censored

Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.