Documents reveal that nearly 50,000 failed refugee claimants remain in Canada despite being aware their asylum request was denied.
The figure comes after an order paper question was posed by a Conservative MP to the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).
As of February 22, 2024, the CBSA indicated there were 28,145 failed refugee claimants subject to a warrant, and an additional 18,684 failed refugee claimants subject to an enforceable removal order.
This means that 46,829 failed refugee claimants are currently living in Canada.
Moreover, of the 18,684 failed refugee claimants subject to an enforceable removal order, 12,882 of them are in an “alternative detention program.”
Asylum claims on the rise
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month that Canada has seen a spike in asylum seekers since the feds closed the infamous Roxham Road illegal point of entry. Trudeau acknowledged the shift in asylum seekers’ arrival methods, particularly through airports.
Further, the Prime Minister said that some of the asylum seekers are members of organized crime.
“We’re in conversations with Mexico about making sure that the number of asylum seekers, some of them supported by organized crime in Mexico, to come up to Canada are reduced,” he said at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.
The Prime Minister also stated that the immigration records he’s smashing on a yearly basis are “perfectly in line” with what Canada needs.
MPs vote to review immigration numbers
A recent Leger poll suggests a significant shift in Canadian sentiment towards immigration, with a large majority expressing concerns about its impact on the housing crisis and health-care system.
Last month, MPs in the House of Commons voted to review the Trudeau Liberals’ current immigration quotas. The motion was proposed by the Bloc Québécois and passed with a vote of 173-150, with only Liberal MPs voting to keep the targets as they currently stand.
The review is required to take place within the next 100 days.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said in November that the Liberals intend to maintain their target of 485,000 thousand new permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025.
