There was an article in
Newsweek about this situation in Canada. While the amount illegally entering is no where near the USA, it already seems to be raising concerns. Will be interesting as to what happens should the numbers crossing the border swell significantly.
Yes, well if it were not raising concerns, that would be a serious problem with Canada's immigration management. The numbers are not particularly alarming ... Canada accepted more than 25,000 refugees from Syria alone last year, for example; those crossing from the US is nowhere near that number. The new issue is not crossing the US-Canada border illegally, it's an increase in the number so doing in the last 12 months.*
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is a high risk strategy as your chances are less than 50:50 of being accepted if entering by this method (plus you are put into custody immediately), and if rejected, you go on an airplane to wherever your passport says you're from. A rather high price for someone who had already made it to North America.
* Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 21 this year, there were 290 illegal crossings in Quebec, 94 in Manitoba and 51 in British Columbia, totalling 435. In all of 2016, there were 2,464.
Canada accepts roughly 300,000 immigrants per year. Of those, approximately 3,800 were accepted under the category the border crossers would be under, with the majority of those being persons who applied at an official entry point.
Immigration Comparison: Immigrants per year / Total Population / % of Population
300,000 / 35 million (Canada) vs 1.4 million / 325 million (US) = 0.86% vs 0.23%
The "border crossers" are not applying at an official entry point; as such their acceptance rate is extremely low. They are first arrested and detained by the RCMP. They are then immediately issued a Deportation Order by the Courts (In Canada any arrest means you must be seen by a Judge immediately, usually this means less than 24 hours, but can be longer over a weekend if a magistrate is not immediately available). If they are accepted as refugees, the Deportation Order is cancelled. If not, they are deported immediately.
A little off-topic, but those US citizens who said they would "move to Canada" if Trump were elected hadn't done much research. Canada accepts about 8,500 US citizens as immigrants a year, from all eligible categories (marriage, business investment, students who choose to stay after attending and graduating from a Canadian institution, express application which is the category an "Anti-Trump" applicant would most likely be under).
At the time of the November election, no new applications for 2016 were being accepted as all available spaces were filled. The application takes 6 months and will cost you about $US 5000 in legal and other fees. You may or may not qualify, but you will be out the five grand. Parade, meet rain.
That last paragraph will tell you how many actually did "move to Canada" after Trump's Election.
If you marry a Canadian, it takes about three years before you will be accepted as an immigrant, during which time you cannot enter Canada (you may be allowed to stay if you married while in Canada. Or maybe not). After another three years, during which time you cannot leave Canada**, you can take the Citizenship Exam, or remain as Permanent Resident status.
** Technically, "should not leave Canada." You can leave, you may not be allowed to re-enter, and if you are, the three year clock starts ticking from day 1 again.
All immigrants are warned not to lie on any application documents or interviews. If you do, you are liable to be immediately deported. If you are ever awarded Citizenship based on false declarations, your Citizenship can be revoked at any time. Then you're deported.
