Last year more than half of the migrants arrested illegally entering the United States from the northern border were Mexican.
Statistics show that 4,316 individuals were arrested along the US-Canada border, 2,245 of which were Mexican citizens. Those who were apprehended were caught trying to enter the United States along various points.
Currently, Mexicans can travel to Canada without a visa if their stay is for six months or less. Visitors from Mexico, only require a Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) if arriving by plane. ETAs are not required if entering Canada by land or sea. The entire process to acquire an ETA takes several minutes to complete and costs only $7.
The visa requirement was lifted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016.
“Closer collaboration between Canada and Mexico on mobility issues will also help encourage travel between the two countries while preventing any increase in asylum claims or other irregular migration”, claimed a release on the Prime Minister’s website.
However, the plan to reduce “irregular” migration seems to have backfired since cases of illegal crossings are becoming more frequent as ETAs are being taken advantage of.
In an exclusive report by True North, after the Trudeau government changed Canada’s visa rules, the number of Mexican refugee claimants in Canada skyrocketed.
The number of Mexican asylum claimants to Canada in on track to rise almost 75% above the previous year’s total, or an 840% increase from 2016’s total.
In one recent case, US Border Patrol agents caught ten illegal migrants near the Canadian border in New York state, some of whom were from Mexico.
Shortly before that, in Vermont, a local man was charged with attempting to smuggle five Mexican nationals into the US from Canada on March 21st.
Those apprehended reported paying the individual $4,000 to be smuggled over the border.
