Immigration Minister Says ‘Not Everyone Is Welcome’ Ahead of Potential Rush of Asylum Seekers From US

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 9, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says the Canadian government will work with the incoming Trump administration as it implements measures to combat illegal immigration, and that he wants anyone coming to Canada to do so legally in a “regular pathway.”

“We will always be acting in the national interest and those measures that we move to undertake, regardless of what decision is taken by the new administration, to make sure that our borders are secure, that people that are coming to Canada do so in a regular pathway, and the reality that not everyone is welcome here,” Miller said during a recent interview with The Globe and Mail.

Miller added that any claims that the incoming president’s plans could impact Canada were “speculation.”

Donald Trump, who recently won the U.S. election, has promised to implement the “largest deportation operation in American history” when he takes office in January. There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., making up about 3 percent of the population.

Trump has tapped former Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan to be his border czar and coordinate the deportation operation. Homan has said that families could be “deported together” and that worksite immigration enforcement operations would be “necessary.”

The RCMP has expressed concern that mass deportations in the U.S. will result in a rise in illegal border crossings in Canada, and has created a contingency plan for several scenarios. An RCMP official told The Epoch Tims the police force has started identifying officers who could assist with border enforcement, and seeking out logistical assets like buildings and buses to be used to manage an influx of migrants.

Near the beginning of Trump’s first presidency in 2017, illegal immigration by Haitians to Canada increased following the administration’s decision to end their temporary protected status. Many claimed asylum at the “irregular” Roxham Road border crossing into Quebec, as the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S. contained a loophole where it was only illegal to make a refugee claim at an official border crossing.

In March 2023, Canada and the United States announced changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement, which led to the closure of the Roxham Road border crossing.

During a press conference on Nov. 6, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland sought to assure Canadians that the government has control over the 9,000-kilometre border.

“We absolutely recognize the importance of border security and of controlling your own border, of controlling who comes into Canada and who doesn’t, and we will do that,” she said.

Illegal crossings along the Canada-U.S. border have skyrocketed over the last several years, with border officials apprehending 189,401 illegal immigrants in 2023, compared to 27,180 in 2021. Canada’s population grew by four million people from 2020 to 2024 amid record-high immigration.

In October, the federal government announced a reduction in the number of permanent residents to be admitted into Canada over the next three years, with the targets falling from 500,000 new permanent residents in each of the next two years to 395,000 in 2025 and 380,000 in 2026. The number would drop further in 2027 to 365,000.

In January, Miller announced a two-year intake cap on the number of international student permit applications, bringing the number down from the approximately 560,000 student visas issued in 2023 to roughly 360,000 approved study permits for 2024. A total of 200,000 fewer international students were let into Canada this fall compared to last year, according to the immigration department.