A man arrested in Surrey on Sunday after blowing through the border in a stolen pickup truck has been deported back to the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Thursday that the 33-year-old suspect had been handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Tacoma.
U.S. authorities say the man was wanted on a warrant on King County, but have remained tight-lipped about why.
American officials also said the man spoke through a Spanish interpreter, and refused to answer questions without a lawyer.
Police are investigating whether the man’s motive was to enter Canada to seek asylum.
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Global News has also learned a second man successfully illegally entered Canada the same day in a stolen vehicle with Washington plates.
Vancouver police told Global News they attempted to stop the van, which was observed swerving and going through stop signs, but that it fled.
Officers did not engage in a high-speed chase, police said, because of the danger to the public.
That suspect remains at large.
Immigration officials say the cases may be related to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
“As soon as Trump announces his separation plan for 11 million people from the United Sates, brace yourself, they are going to hit Canada,” immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said.
Blaine, Wash.-based immigration lawyer Len Saunders said asylum seekers in the U.S. currently face wait times of up to 50 years.
That’s compared to waits of four to five years in Canada, he said.
“So if anybody does the math and they see that Canada is right to the U.S. it just makes sense to go north, especially when they are being threatened by the new president to be deported,” he said.
Global News requested comment from the Canada Border Services Agency on its border security measures, but was told the agency needed more time to formulate a response.
— with files from Rumina Daya
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