Canada will ‘do the work’ to ease Trump officials’ border worries: minister

Canada’s public safety minister says he’s confident in the work of agencies tasked with detaining and removing people in the country illegally and preventing security threats crossing into the U.S., but will boost enforcement resources if necessary.

Dominic LeBlanc says that work by the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) should prove to the incoming Donald Trump administration — whose newly appointed “border czar” has called the Canada-U.S. border a “huge national security issue” — that Ottawa shares their concerns about border security.

“I’m very confident in the work that they can do with their American counterparts, and we’ll reassure the American administration that we’re prepared to do the work that’s necessary,” LeBlanc told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.

The government has been pressed by opposition parties and provinces on its plan to add additional resources at the U.S.-Canada border in anticipation of a potential increase in people seeking to enter Canada from the U.S., where Trump has vowed mass deportations and crackdowns on asylum claims.

2:06 Trump’s border czar to focus on Canadian side, says it ‘can’t be a gateway to terrorists’

LeBlanc said the government is ready to provide whatever is needed, but noted all agencies have been preparing for a future Trump administration for some time.

“We recognize the increased public attention around some of the proposals of the incoming administration,” he said. “So that’s why they’ve been preparing literally for months in terms of scenario planning. And I’m confident that they’re ready to do the work that Canadians expect them to do.”

The concerns have also sparked scrutiny of Canada’s immigration screening and enforcement measures for removing people whose temporary visas have expired or who pose a security threat.

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RCMP and intelligence agencies have so far thwarted two alleged terrorist plots this year involving people who entered Canada on either student visas or refugee claims — one of whom was allegedly planning an attack in New York City.

LeBlanc said the arrests of those individuals is proof that Canada is taking the issue seriously and that “we need to remain vigilant” on both sides of the border to counter future threats.

In an interview last week with his local TV news station 7News in Watertown, N.Y. — a community close to the Ontario border — newly named U.S. “border czar” Tom Homan said there’s an “extreme national security vulnerability” along the Canada-U.S. border that will need to be addressed.

Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who Trump has appointed to be his secretary of state, raised concerns alongside other senators about potential attempts by “Gazans with potential terrorist ties to enter the U.S. through Canada” after Ottawa eased temporary visa restrictions for Canadian family members fleeing Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

0:53 ‘Canada’s borders are secure’: Deputy PM says as Trump looks to deport migrants

LeBlanc told Stephenson he’s seen first-hand the technology deployed by CBSA and the RCMP, which patrols the parts of the border between official crossings, and the success they’ve had identifying and apprehending people.

He said the government is ready to give RCMP and CBSA whatever resources they deem necessary to address additional concerns.

The CBSA says 15,179 people were removed from Canada last year, and LeBlanc said Canada is on track to deport even more this year. So far, 12,401 people have been removed.

However, CBSA figures tabled in Parliament early this year suggest most people who received deportation letters in the last eight years remain in Canada, which the Conservative Party says suggests a lack of enforcement.

LeBlanc also pointed to what he said was a 600 per cent increase in investigations into fraudulent visa applications at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as well as nearly $1 billion in investments into CBSA detention and removal operations, as proof of the government’s preparedness.

Although encounters of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. through the Canadian land border saw a 306 per cent year-over-year increase in June, the number has since dropped by 50 per cent to 1,792 as of September, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics.

The number of encounters with U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents at the northern U.S. border pales in comparison to the southern border with Mexico, which saw nearly 54,000 encounters in September alone — a 78 per cent decline since last December.

1:53 Will Trump’s promise for mass deportation lead to a separation of families?

In the 7News interview, Homan said the focus on the southern border has left the Canadian border with “a lot less fewer officers,” which he vowed to address once he’s in the White House.

The Customs and Immigration Union told Global News in an emailed statement that staffing shortages at CBSA have been “a long-standing issue,” and estimates the agency would need an additional 2,000 to 3,000 officers just to meet its current operational needs.

Human smuggling activity has also been on the rise at the northern border. Last month, USBP chief patrol agent Robert Garcia — who oversees the section of the border known as the Swanton Sector, comprising eastern Ontario, Quebec, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire — said agents have apprehended more than 19,222 subjects from 97 different countries since last October. He said that’s more than its last 17 fiscal years combined.

“There’s no doubt that global migration has led many countries, including ours, to face challenges that a decade ago we wouldn’t have seen,” LeBlanc said when asked about those figures, noting the decrease in border encounters in the past few months.

“Twenty-five years ago, I don’t think Canadians or Americans understood the extent to which the safe, secure, free movement of people and goods across that border is essential to the economic prosperity and security of both countries. So it’s entirely a shared priority.”