Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Canada has seen a spike in asylum seekers since the feds closed the infamous Roxham Road illegal point of entry — and that some of them are members of organized crime.
Trudeau made his comments at a fireside chat at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.
“We’ve seen a rise in asylum seekers even as we’ve managed to close Roxham Road by renegotiating the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States,” Trudeau said, noting the shift in asylum seekers’ arrival methods, particularly through airports.
He further mentioned, “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.”
The Prime Minister also stated that the immigration records he’s smashing on a yearly basis are “perfectly in line” with what Canada needs.
He also touched on measures concerning international students, driven by concerns over housing availability, mental health distress, and exploitation by diploma mills.
MPs vote to review immigration numbers
Earlier this week, 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.
Trudeau Liberals plan to continue packing in record high numbers
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.
“Starting in 2026 the number of newcomers we aim to welcome will stabilize at 500,000,” he said.
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.
