“Four or five” asylum seekers who have crossed the New York-Quebec border have been caught with child pornography, Global News reports.
Canada’s border crisis continues to escalate as an increasing number of refugees also have criminal records.
But, as Global News reports, these facts may not prevent them from having their refugee claims processed.
The illegals are crossing at St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, about 30 miles south of Montreal. They are largely from Haiti and fear deportation from the Trump administration.
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is being vague about how much material has been found and won’t confirm numbers of people involved. A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale would only confirm that “two people have been charged” with possession of child pornography but would not say how many cases are under investigation.
Neither would he speculate on how much material is getting through the border as the numbers of illegal migrants continue to rise every week.
But a memo from the agency indicates that “if child pornography or any other prohibited material is found,” officers are to get in touch with the CBSA’s intelligence division, who will then contact the criminal investigation unit or the Quebec provincial police “to assess whether there are sufficient grounds to initiate an investigation.”
But the bureaucratic overlap gets even murkier. The CBSA memo also clarifies that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has legal jurisdiction either to initiate an investigation themselves or transfer the file to the Quebec police. If criminal charges are laid, the illegal refugee’s application will be stopped.
However, if charges are not laid, the illegal’s application to stay in Canada will proceed.
This latest development is only adding fuel to fire of the government’s Conservative critics who say Trudeau has created a border crisis by neither defining Canadian refugee policies nor enforcing the law.
In a statement sent to The Daily Caller, Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel called the revelations “severely alarming” and noted that other reports indicate that a growing number of the Haitians have criminal records.
“It is severely alarming to hear that several asylum seekers illegally crossing the U.S-Canada border have been found in possession of child pornography. This new information builds on recent reports that an increasing number of claimants entering Canada have serious criminal records,” she said.
Rempel continued, “Reports that the RCMP may be seizing child pornography from people illegally crossing the border, but still letting asylum claims proceed, suggest that our asylum system is now protecting those who are exploiting the world’s most vulnerable.”
In an interview with The Daily Caller, Rempel said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ambiguity and inaction on the refugee file is creating a border crisis that will continue to hurt Canadians and real refugees. “By opening the borders Justin Trudeau is creating a refugee and immigration backlog for those who want to enter Canada legally,” she said.
Rempel also questioned the logic of establishing a tent city at the border because “winter is coming.”
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