Reuters has discovered that Canada has detained at least five times as many Mexicans than in the previous two years due to new visa requirements.
This stat is interesting considering the fact that Canada has portrayed itself as welcoming and America as a bad guy to Mexicans. From Reuters:
Canada’s detention of Mexicans surged more than tenfold from 24 in November to 331 in April, the data show. The number of Mexicans filing refugee claims more than quadrupled from November to March.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to lift the visa requirement, imposed by the previous government, during the 2015 election campaign in an effort to improve bilateral relations. Visitors from Mexico can now apply online for an electronic travel permit in a process that takes minutes.
With the visa requirement lifted, more Mexicans have drifted towards Canada, especially after harsh words from President Donald Trump. On the campaign trail, Trump regularly stated that Mexico sends its criminals and bad people to the states.
Well, Canada’s border agency has the ability to “detain foreign nationals indefinitely on no charge if it believes they pose a danger to the public, if their identities are unclear or if they are deemed unlikely to appear for removal or for a proceeding.”
Did Trump have a point then?
Also, is Canada as welcoming to Mexicans as Trudeau portrayed the country? After all, lawyer Ali Esnaashari, who has represented some of the detainees, told Reuters that the agency has applied “significant pressure on detainees to willingly leave instead of fighting to stay.” He continued:
“They’re usually offered: ‘You can be in detention or you just go back and withdraw your request to enter the country,'” he said. “Most of them end up spending a night or two at the immigration holding center and then they go on the plane and go back home.”
Reuters noticed these numbers spiking back in March. This is what authorities told the outlet at the time:
Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Minister Ahmed Hussen has said his department is monitoring the situation.”It would be premature to draw conclusions or to speculate on future policy at this point,” Hussen’s spokeswoman, Camielle Edwards, wrote in an email Friday evening.
Love this headline: Canada Is Welcoming Mexican Citizens With Open Arms
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