Public Safety Minister Day promises 'consequences' for illegal refugees

It is good to see that Public Safety Minister, Stockwell Day, is actually going to crack down on illegal immigrants to Canada. Especially after the increase in illegal aliens from Mexico and Latin America, who have living in the US, but allowed to enter Canada through Windsor to apply for refugee status.

Day said Canada will take a zero-tolerance approach to anyone trying to enter the country illegally, but wanted to investigate specific claims in Windsor more closely.

In an earlier post, I referenced an article that appeared in the National Post that described a potential illegal-immigrant nightmare situation that could engulf our urban centers. It described the journey of Manuel Ortega, a Mexican who was living illegally in Florida for 15 years, but decided to flee to Canada to avoid an immigrant crackdown.

Mexicans pour into Canada from US

Ortega's dream, as he recounted it Tuesday standing outside a room at a Windsor motel, is now but a memory. He is one of an estimated 180 Mexicans from Florida who've rushed across the border and into Windsor to claim refugee status, fleeing a crackdown on illegal aliens in Florida.

The thing that incensed me the most was that he was not fleeing persecution or in fear for his life. This was basically an economic refugee whose time was running out in the US, who decided to come to Canada and jump the queue ahead of legal immigrants, many who had waited years and followed the system to legally enter our country.

Local agencies that work with refugees have been told to brace for 4,000 to 8,000 refugee claimants."
...
"After driving his 1996 Grand Caravan for 24 hours without stopping -- except for gas and food -- the Ortegas arrived at the Windsor tunnel Sept. 11. When they told the border guard they were seeking refugee status, the Ortegas were given a list of social services organizations to contact for support"

After reading this, the first question that came to my mind was, why did our border guards not refuse entry to this person and hundreds of others who did the same thing? It was my impression that the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement was supposed to limit cases like these from occurring. Below is my understanding of the agreement

Those applying from a "safe third country," such as the U.S., are ineligible to make refugee claims at a Canadian border crossing by land.

If Mexicans come to Canada through the U.S., for example, they must make refugee claims there, and are not eligible here.

If this is the case, why are our border guards letting these people in? During the time that they are here awaiting their claim, which most likely will be denied, they are given housing, welfare cheques and other forms of social assistance at great cost to our urban centers. Would it not be prudent and cost effective to simply turn these people back?

According to this article that appeared in the ctv website

Dozens of settlers have begun receiving welfare benefits from the government while they wait for their refugee claim cases to be processes. Most of the claims have little chance of success.

It has been reported that the immigrants may not be covered under Canadian refugee status, meant to be given to people with a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country.

Take for example the city of Windsor. They are facing a severe financial crunch due to this issue.

Last week, he said it had so far cost the city $230,000, about 20 per cent of the annual budget for shelters.

Windsor's unemployment rate is currently pushing 10 per cent, making the influx of jobless refugees the last thing its economy needed.

In addition to the financial crunch, Windsor is also dealing with refugee advocacy groups, who are aiding and abetting the arrival of these illegal immigrants. One of the most prominent members is Jacques Sinjuste, founder of Jerusalem Haitian Community Centre in Florida.

On Friday, Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis met with a Florida man accused of being responsible for sending the wave of immigrants to Windsor. He told Francis there are more busloads of potential immigrants on the way.

"There are individuals or organizations that are now planning for these types of arrivals at the Detroit-Windsor gateway," Francis told A-Channel after his meeting with Jacques Sinjuste, founder of Jerusalem Haitian Community Centre in Naples, Florida.

Mr Sinjuste has been blamed for starting the exodus of illegal immigrants from Florida to Windsor and his group is under investigation by the Florida police after complaints from Canadian and Mexican authorities. His group is accused of making false promises of asylum in Canada to their clients.

Kristi Lester, media communications officer for the county sherriff's office has confirmed that investigators are looking into reports the agency has received concerning JHCC activities. However, she termed the probe an "open investigation," meaning there are currently no charges pending.

Canadian and Mexican authorities have complained that the organization misled Mexican nationals living illegally in the U.S. and fearful of a government crackdown, promising them that Canada was offering asylum and legal status. It's been alleged that JHCC accepted donations of between $300 and $400 to help the Mexicans obtain Canadian refugee applications.

Sinjuste acknowledged that misleading information was passed along to between "20 and 40" illegal Mexican aliens who came to his office after a Spanish-speaking staff member was interviewed for Spanish television.

Hopefully Canada will step up to the plate soon and start enforcing our immigration laws against these illegal refugees. They also need to take firm action against those refugee advocacy groups, who are actively involved in facilitating illegal immigrants to enter our country. Earlier this week, Janet Hinshaw-Thomas, a US refugee worker was arrested at the Quebec border crossing of Lacolle, for tying to help 12 Haitian asylum seekers into Canada.

Her arrest was made under Section 117 of the act, which makes it illegal to "organize, induce, aid or abet" the entry of persons without visas or passports.

More actions like these need to be taken to crack down of illegal immigrants and groups that are assisting them. If nothing is done, Canada could be very soon facing the same, out of control, illegal immigration problems that exist in US border states, such as California, Arizona and Texas.