Rempel Garner warns of border strain as Haitian migrants lose US protected status

CALGARY — Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Centre–North) has warned that Canada could face a sharp increase in illegal border crossings by Haitian nationals as a US immigration protection program is set to expire next month.It is estimated that up to 350,000 Haitians currently residing in the US are set to lose Temporary Protected Status on February 3.The program allows people from countries affected by conflict or humanitarian disasters to live and work legally without fear of deportation.Rempel Garner says many individuals whose status runs out could attempt to enter Canada illegally.“History shows that this is a pattern,” Rempel Garner said.“When Haitians in the United States first faced Temporary Protected Status revocation nearly a decade ago, Canada experienced a major increase in illegal crossings and asylum claims.”Government data shows that between 2017 and 2024, approximately 40,000 Haitian nationals made asylum claims in Canada, including nearly 12,000 in the last year alone.Rempel Garner says the number is likely to rise further after the U.S. program expires, at a time when Canada’s ability — and public willingness — to absorb more migrants is already strained.“This wave of potential new arrivals raises humanitarian, security, and infrastructure concerns. Many are attempting to enter Canada during frigid winter weather. Without strong deterrents, there will be more dangerous winter crossings attempted, as well as human trafficking,” Rempel Garner said, citing a recent interception by the RCMP of a U-Haul with 44 suspected Haitian trafficking victims as an example..WATCH: Rempel Garner slams Liberals for allowing Pakistani registered incestuous child sex offender into Canada.The Canadian Press also reports that authorities have already confirmed that since Christmas Day, at least 27 migrants of Haitian origin have been arrested in Quebec alone after crossing the Canada–US border on foot, often in remote areas.The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) stated that some of those intercepted have already been deported back into the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.Officials say the rapid removals are the result of changes made in 2023 to the Canada–US Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), which expanded the agreement to cover the entire land border and closed a loophole that had previously allowed migrants entering between official ports of entry to make asylum claims.Under the STCA, asylum seekers are generally required to seek refugee protection in the first safe country they reach, meaning most people arriving from the United States are ineligible to claim asylum in Canada.Exceptions exist for unaccompanied minors and for migrants with close family members in Canada, among other circumstances.“The Liberal government has deemed the United States a safe third country,” Rempel Garner said.“That means if someone reaches the United States, they are obligated to make an asylum claim there and are subsequently ineligible to file a claim in Canada. However, the Liberal government has failed to close a major loophole.”She says the definition of “family” under the agreement is overly broad, allowing claimants to qualify if they have relatives in Canada — including adult children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, or nephews — even if those relatives have pending asylum claims themselves.“This enables chains of potentially bogus asylum claims, amid prolonged processing times and rare removals,” Garner said.“Furthermore, the Liberal government has shown reluctance to crack down on human traffickers who profit from illegally transporting people across the border, or to adopt Conservative proposals that would reform social benefits that may incentivize bogus asylum claims.”.Survey shows majority of Albertans support referendum on increasing control over immigration.Critics of the government’s policy have also argued that the current system has not stopped irregular migration, but instead made it more dangerous.François Crépeau, a McGill University law professor and former director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, told the Canadian Press that the expansion of the STCA has pushed migrants into forests and other hazardous routes while increasing reliance on smugglers.“We had a system that worked very well. Now it’s chaos,” Crépeau said.“People pay high smuggling fees, risk dangerous crossings, and the authorities lose oversight.”Before the agreement was amended, tens of thousands of migrants — many of them Haitian — crossed into Canada through Roxham Road, a rural path linking Quebec and New York State.Asylum seekers were typically allowed to remain in Canada while their claims were processed.Roxham Road was closed following the 2023 changes.In late December, Ottawa announced changes to its immigration policy through the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, which outlined a plan to reduce permanent resident admissions to 380,000, down from a peak of over 483,000 in 2024.However, the total number of admissions to Canada allowed under the plan for 2026 was listed at slightly over 821,000 applicants — a figure critics warned was still too high and could now be further exacerbated by the arrival of tens of thousands of Haitian asylum seekers in the coming months.

Rempel Garner warns of border strain as Haitian migrants lose US protected status

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