Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Wednesday responded to remarks made by incoming US border czar Tom Homan that Canada’s border is an “extreme national security vulnerability.”Homan said the matter will be one of the first issues he’ll “tackle” once President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office. Miller, speaking to reporters after his address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, was asked about the remarks the border czar made on television the night before. “I look forward to speaking to Mr. Homan directly,” replied Miller. “This is not something we’ve done yet.”He emphasized Canada and the US have an “alignment of interests in making sure (the border) is safe and secure,” yet conceded that Canada has had “over the last number of years volumes of asylum seekers coming into Canada in historically high numbers.”Miller said these asylum seekers enter the country for “a lot of reasons that have very little to do with Canada,” but “we have to make sure that those flows come in in a way that is regular.”“There is a way to come to Canada, and there's a way not to come to Canada,” he said. The two countries “share information” and are “able to apprehend folks that cross the border in an irregular fashion or in a fashion where they're not entitled to do it,” said Miller. “We have had equal challenges with respect to the flow coming from the US into Canada, and have taken measures to secure it and to close some of the ways people get in here in an irregular fashion that's going to continue.”“I expect that conversation (with American counterparts) to continue fully, and I expect there to be some tough conversations.”“I actually look forward to those conversations.” .Miller pointed to the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the US, which requires refugee claimants to request refugee status in the first safe country they arrive in — whether it be Canada or the US. They are not allowed to travel from southern countries, through the States and up to Canada. However, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants entered the US under the Biden administration. Some of them travelled to Canada where they applied for refugee protection. “Can we expect the US to abide by the Safe Third Country agreement we have?” asked Miller rhetorically. “That agreement has allowed us to have a managed flow of migrants (across) the border that is so important to our economic relationship,” he said without answering his own question. “We’ve proven through the last decade we've been able to manage it responsibly.” .Speaking to Channel 7 News Extra, Former ICE Director Homan, who has 34 years of experience with border issues, said “the problem with the northern border, it’s a huge national security issue, because a lot of SIAs, special interest aliens, come from countries that sponsor terror, and are known not to be our friends, come through.”“It's an extreme national security vulnerability, and the northern border is one of the things I'll tackle as soon as I’m at the White House.” When asked what needs to be done to protect the US against infiltration through the Canada-US border, Homan said “we need to end catch and release,” and added that more agents would be commissioned to monitor the border. He also named Prime Minister Justin Trudeau specifically and said the process would require his cooperation. “If you go across the northern (border), you need to know right from the start you can come, but you're gonna be arrested,” he said. “You're not gonna be released, and we're gonna remove you. It's not gonna be like the Biden administration.” “You're not walking away. We're gonna lock you up.”Homan added Trump will have to work with Trudeau “and say, ‘Look, you need to enforce what immigration laws you have, because this is a gateway.’”“So there needs to be some negotiation between the two governments,” said Homan. “There has to be an understanding in Canada that they can't be a gateway to terrorists coming to the United States.”
