Canada Warns Against New Illegal Migration Efforts By Haitians

QUEBEC, Canada, August 23, 2017 (CMC) — On Monday, Canada said it was aware of a new plan by Haitians, seeking to enter the country from their homeland, using the United States as a brief stopover.

The Canadian authorities said that more than 6, 400 Haitians living in the United States have already crossed the Canadian border, illegally, seeking asylum.

The Haitians fear being expelled to Haiti if President Donald Trump decides not to renew their Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The Haitians also fear that as many as 60 000 of them in the United States could lose their TPS and be expelled from that North American country.

But the Canadian authorities say “it seems that we are witnessing the beginning of a new phenomenon, Haitians leaving Haiti, to enter, irregularly, into Canada, like their compatriots, by transiting only briefly by the United States.

“US Customs would have informed their Canadian colleagues that more and more Haitians are flying from Port-au-Prince to Miami and then Plattsburgh, before taking a taxi to one of the illegal crossing points,” the authorities said in a statement.

They noted that several Haitian migrants intercepted in Canada have acknowledged that they do not live in the United States and have come directly from Haiti.

“New arrivals are flooding the flow of hundreds of Haitians who illegally cross the Canadian border each day and complicate the logistical management of this large number of new arrivals in Quebec,” they added.

Earlier this month, Haiti said it was prepared to accept its nationals if they are not accepted by Canada.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Antonio Rodrigue, who headed a two-member delegation team to Canada, said that they have been mandated by President Jovenel Moïse to meet with Canadian and provincial authorities and determine what could best be done regarding the situation of migrants flowing to the Canadian border and to facilitate their integration into Canadian society.