Feds Have Issued Arrest Warrants for 300 Foreign Criminals Deemed a Danger to Public: Report

A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) patch is seen on a CBSA officer’s uniform in Calgary, Alberta, on Aug. 1, 2019. Jeff Mcintosh/The Canadian Press

Federal authorities have active arrest warrants for 300 foreign criminals—including sex offenders and people convicted of violent crimes—who are deemed a danger to the public and face deportation, according to a report.

As of July, there are 37,326 active immigration arrest warrants, 33,032 of which are deportation orders, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) told The Globe and Mail. They include 306 arrest warrants for people deemed a danger to the Canadian public.

Authorities are attempting to find more than 37,000 foreigners who may pose a flight risk, might not voluntarily agree to be questioned or attend an immigration hearing, or who may pose a danger to the public.

“Removing individuals who are inadmissible for criminality is of paramount importance,” Guillaume Bérubé, spokesperson for the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) previously told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement last fall.

Mr. Bérubé said immigration regulations take into account the “individual’s danger to the public or flight risk” when considering who to arrest and detain. Considerations include any associations with a criminal organization, engagement in trafficking or smuggling of persons, convictions for sexual offences or offences involving weapons or violence, and drug trafficking.

A foreign national convicted of a crime in Canada and ordered deported must first serve their prison sentence. Deportees remain in custody or live on parole in the community after finishing their prison term.

In 2020, the auditor general’s report on immigration removals raised concerns that the CBSA had lost track of the whereabouts “of a large number of foreign nationals” facing deportation.

“We concluded that the Canada Border Services Agency did not remove the majority of individuals who were subject to enforceable removal orders as soon as possible to protect the integrity of the immigration system and maintain public safety,” said Auditor General Karen Hogan’s audit.

The report said despite a recent increase in deportations, around 50,000 enforceable cases piled up in the agency’s inventory. The audit also said failed asylum claimants made up the largest share of those ordered to leave Canada each year.

In 2022, the CBSA issued a total of 4,600 arrest warrants and has issued 3,345 so far in 2023. In 2019, a total of 2,313 deportation orders were issued, dropping to 1,194 in 2020 and 1,464 in 2021.

Until November 2022, 409 people were deported from Canada with 950 “awaiting enforcement,” while in 2019 there were 1,222 deportations with 1,860 pending enforcement.

News of the active arrest warrants comes as a CIBC report on Aug. 30 claims the figure for non-permanent residents in Canada could be around one million higher than the official government count.

“We suggest that the official number of NPRs that is widely quoted and used for planning purposes undercounts the actual number of NPRs residing in Canada by close to one million. That means that any policy aimed at capping the number of NPRs is more urgent than perceived,” the report said.