OTTAWA: Faced with an influx of asylum seekers from the United States, Canada is planning to substantially step up deportations of illegal migrants, Canada’s public broadcaster reported Wednesday.
A leaked email from a senior Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) official to staff, cited by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the goal is to deport some 10,000 persons a year, as much as a 35 percent increase over recent years.
CBSA enforcement director Brad Wozny wrote that in recent weeks he has “been involved in several discussions both regionally and nationally concerning the government of Canada’s decision to substantially increase removal efforts.”
“Initial discussions have the agency working toward a new national target of 10,000 removals/year,” he adds.
The CBC said 18,000 people, mostly failed refugee claimants, currently face deportation. So far this year 6,083 have been deported, compared to a total of 8,472 in 2017 and 18,987 in 2012.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government is “trying to improve the immigration system and be more expeditious in handling cases.”
Border Security Minister Bill Blair, meanwhile, confirmed that the government has “added additional resources to ensure that (the CBSA) has what they need to do the job.”
He noted that only asylum seekers who “have gone through all the legal processes of determining their eligibility for the protection of Canada” and been found “to have not been eligible are subject to removal.”
This hardening of the government’s position comes as Trudeau’s Liberals face increased political attacks ahead of next year’s election from opposition Tories, who accuse the government of mismanaging a migrant “crisis.”
Donald Trump’s election as US president triggered a spike in asylum seekers who have simply walked across the border into Canada, some braving biting cold and dangerous treks through the wilds.
According to the latest government data, more than 30,000 have come from the United States in search of asylum. Most were originally from Nigeria, Haiti, Turkey, Eritrea or Colombia.
Canada planning to increase expulsions of illegal immigrants
Canada planning to increase expulsions of illegal immigrants
- Leaked email says the goal is to deport some 10,000 persons a year, as much as a 35 percent increase over recent years
- Donald Trump’s election as US president triggered a spike in asylum seekers who have simply walked across the border into Canada
Ukraine says Russia launched a major aerial attack before Kyiv’s talks with US
- The bombardment targeted critical infrastructure and residential areas across eight regions of Ukraine, Zelensky said
- Dozens of people, including children, were injured, officials said
KYIV: Russia launched a barrage of 420 drones and 39 missiles at Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, as US and Ukrainian envoys held more talks in Geneva on ending the war that is now in its fifth year.
The bombardment, which included 11 ballistic missiles, targeted critical infrastructure and residential areas across eight regions of Ukraine, Zelensky said. Dozens of people, including children, were injured, officials said, though authorities did not immediately publish a confirmed total.
Zelensky said late Wednesday he had spoken by phone with US President Donald Trump and thanked him for his “efforts and engagement” in pursuing peace negotiations.
The US-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv are continuing but are deadlocked on the issue of the future of Ukrainian territory that Russia claims as its own.
Zelensky has pushed for a summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, saying a face-to-face meeting could be decisive in unlocking an agreement, but the Kremlin has rebuffed that proposal beyond inviting the Ukrainian president to Moscow, which Zelensky refused.
Trump representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who were also discussing nuclear negotiations with Iran in Geneva before turning to the war in Europe, met with Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. They also joined Trump’s call with Zelensky.
The envoys were to discuss economic support and the recovery of Ukraine, ways of attracting investment to the country, and frameworks for long-term cooperation, Umerov said on X.
Also, the meeting would look at preparations for the next round of trilateral negotiations involving Russia and consider possible further exchanges of prisoner, according to Umerov.
Washington is looking to keep momentum in its yearlong push to stop the fighting and overcome deep enmity between the warring countries.
Ukrainian and European officials have accused Putin of feigning interest in peace negotiations, hoping to avoid punitive US measures such as additional sanctions while pressing forward with the invasion.
Thursday’s talks between the American and Ukrainian envoys were to address details of a possible postwar recovery plan for Ukraine and discuss preparations for an upcoming trilateral meeting with Moscow officials, perhaps next week, according to Zelensky.
He said he has also tasked Umerov with discussing a possible prisoner exchange.
Russia returned 1,000 bodies of fallen soldiers to Ukraine, and got back 35 bodies of its fallen troops, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation at previous talks with Ukraine, said Thursday. He did not say when the exchange happened.
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War later confirmed the return, though it referred to “bodies which, according to preliminary information provided by the Russian side, may belong to Ukrainian defenders.”
Russia struck gas infrastructure in the Poltava region and electrical substations in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Zelensky said. Emergency crews responded in five other regions, as well as in the capital.
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down most of the Russian missiles, Zelensky said, crediting Western partners for timely delivery of additional air defense interceptors. Ukraine needs foreign help to sustain its fight against Russia’s bigger forces.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allied countries to provide more military aid.
“When the whole world demands Moscow to finally stop this senseless war, Putin bets on more terror, attacks and aggression,” Sybiha said in a post on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 17 Ukrainian drones overnight over a number of Russian regions, as well as the Black and Azov Seas.
Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range drones have struck oil refineries, fuel depots and military logistics hubs deep inside Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia continued to push allegations of a purported plot by European nations to provide Kyiv with a nuclear bomb, without providing any evidence.
The Kremlin-controlled lower house of the Russian parliament on Thursday unanimously approved an address urging the United Nations and European lawmakers to prevent the alleged plan.
It followed a statement on Tuesday by the Russian foreign intelligence service alleging that France and the UK were planning to covertly transfer nuclear weapons or components of a “dirty bomb” device.
British and French officials said the claim was a lie.
