Canada’s public safety minister said he is confident in the work of agencies tasked with detaining and removing people in the country illegally and preventing security threats from crossing into the United States, but he will bolster enforcement resources if necessary.
Dominic LeBlanc says the work being done by the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) should demonstrate to the incoming Donald Trump administration — whose newly appointed “border czar” called the Canada-US border a “huge national security issue” — that Ottawa shares their concerns about border security. .
“I am very confident in the work they can do with their American counterparts, and we will reassure the American administration that we are ready to do the necessary work,” LeBlanc told Mercedes-Stevenson in an interview broadcast on Sunday. Western bloc.
The government has come under pressure from opposition and provincial parties over its plan to add additional resources at the US-Canada border in anticipation of a potential increase in the number of people seeking to enter Canada from the United States, where Trump has pledged mass deportations and a crackdown on asylum claims. .
LeBlanc said the government is ready to provide whatever is needed, but noted that all agencies have been preparing for a future Trump administration for some time.
“We are aware of the growing public interest in some of the incoming administration’s proposals,” he said. “That’s why they’ve been preparing for literally months in terms of scenario planning. I’m confident they’re prepared to do the work that Canadians expect them to do.”
These concerns have also sparked scrutiny of Canada’s immigration screening and enforcement procedures to remove people whose temporary visas have expired or who pose a security threat.
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RCMP and intelligence agencies have so far foiled two alleged terrorist plots this year involving people who entered Canada on either student visas or asylum claims — one of whom was allegedly planning an attack in New York City.
LeBlanc said the arrest of these individuals is evidence that Canada takes this issue seriously and that “we need to remain vigilant” on both sides of the border to confront future threats.
In an interview last week with local TV news station 7News And in Watertown, New York — a community close to the Ontario border — Tom Homan, the newly appointed U.S. “border czar,” said there is a “severe national security vulnerability” along the Canada-U.S. border that must be addressed.
Earlier this year, US Senator Marco Rubio, whom Trump appointed as Secretary of State, He raised concerns along with other senators About possible attempts by “Gazans with potential terrorist ties to enter the United States via Canada” after Ottawa eased temporary visa restrictions for Canadian family members fleeing Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
LeBlanc told Stevenson that he has seen first-hand the technology deployed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which patrol parts of the border between official crossings, and the success they have had in identifying and apprehending people.
He said the government stands ready to give the RCMP and CBSA whatever resources they deem necessary to address additional concerns.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says 15,179 people were deported from Canada last year, and LeBlanc said Canada is on track to deport more this year. So far, 12,401 people have been removed.
However, CBSA numbers presented to Parliament early this year indicate that most people who received deportation letters in the past eight years are still in Canada, which the Conservatives say indicates a lack of enforcement.
LeBlanc also pointed to what he said was a 600 per cent increase in investigations into fraudulent visa applications at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as well as nearly $1 billion in investments in detention and removal operations by the Canada Border Services Agency, as evidence of the government’s preparedness. .
Although encounters of migrants seeking to enter the United States via the Canadian land border saw a 306 per cent year-over-year increase in June, the number has since fallen by 50 per cent to 1,792 as of September, according to Customs and Border Protection. American. statistics.
The number of encounters with U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents on the northern US border pales in comparison to the southern border with Mexico, which saw nearly 54,000 encounters in September alone — a 78 percent decline since last December.
In an interview with 7News, Homan said the focus on the southern border has left the Canadian border with “far fewer officers,” something he pledged to address once he reaches the White House.
The Customs and Immigration Federation told Global News in an emailed statement that staffing shortages at the CBSA have been a “long-standing issue,” and it is estimated that the agency will need between 2,000 and 3,000 additional officers just to meet its current operational needs.
Human smuggling activity is also on the rise on the northern border. Last month, Robert Garcia, chief patrol agent for the USBP — which oversees a portion of the border known as the Swanton Sector, which includes eastern Ontario, Quebec, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire — Agents said they were arrested Over 19,222 posts from 97 different countries since last October. That’s more than the last 17 fiscal years combined, he said.
“There is no doubt that global migration has pushed many countries, including ours, to face challenges that we would not have seen a decade ago,” LeBlanc said when asked about these numbers, noting a decline in border encounters in the past few months.
“Twenty-five years ago, I don’t think Canadians or Americans understood how important the safe and free movement of people and goods across that border was to the economic prosperity and security of both countries. So it’s an absolutely shared priority.”
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