How claiming to be a refugee became a get-out-of-jail-free card

2025/12/17 Leave a comment

Pretty clear case of abuse of asylum that undermines support for refugees:

This month, B.C.’s newly minted Extortion Task Force was zeroing in on 14 foreign nationals accused of participating in an extortion crime wave currently terrorizing the Lower Mainland.

Starting in earnest in 2023, organized gangs have been roving through Surrey and Abbotsford demanding large sums of cash from South Asian businesses, and then attacking non-payers with arson or gunfire.

More than 130 such incidents have occurred just in 2025, yielding a weekly tally of shootings and vehicle fires. This rash of violence is one of the main reasons that Ottawa declared India’s Bishnoi Gang a terrorist entity in September, accusing them of generating terror among Canadian diaspora communities “through extortion and intimidation.”

But according to an exclusive report by Stewart Bell at Global News, just as the Canada Border Services Agency began investigating 14 alleged extortionists, all of them claimed to be refugees, instantly stopping the investigation in its tracks.

In a Thursday statement, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke called out how the “international thugs and criminals” abused the asylum system in order to “extend their stay in Canada.”

Guests in our country who break our laws need to be sent home,” she said.

The case of the Surrey 14 is one of the more brazen abuses of the refugee system to date. But it’s nothing new that a foreign national would claim refugee status to evade deportation. Or that asylum status would be used as a tool of foreign criminal gangs.

Because, as the Surrey case illustrates, it works.

If the accused are indeed extortionists, they’re likely to eventually face some kind of removal order or criminal prosecution. But by merely telling border authorities “I am seeking asylum,” they’ve potentially obtained up to two additional years on Canadian soil.

As of the most recent estimates of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, there is a backlog of at least 24 months until refugee claimants can have their case put before an immigration officer.

As such, any foreign national claiming to be a refugee can be assured of at least two years of living in Canada under the status of an asylum claimant….

Source: How claiming to be a refugee became a get-out-of-jail-free card

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Federal agencies fumble privacy safeguards on asylum system revamp, risking refugee data

2025/09/09 Leave a comment

Sigh….:

Three government agencies that partnered on a $68-million project to revamp Canada’s asylum system failed to complete mandatory privacy safeguard tests for years while the project was being implemented, CBC News has learned. 

The lack of privacy protections raises “red flags,” lawyers say, and may have put refugee claimants’ data and applications at risk.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) worked together on the “asylum interoperability project,” which would transform the asylum system into a more efficient digital one and address the ever-growing backlog of pending asylum applications, which currently sits at more than 290,000.

Earlier this year, CBC reported that the project, which launched in 2019, had been prematurely shut down in 2024 in what CBSA called an “unexpected” move.

Now, documents obtained through access-to-information legislation show there were “outstanding” privacy impact assessments (PIA) for the project, which was quietly scrapped when it was only 64 per cent complete.

According to a government digital privacy playbook, a PIA is a “policy process to identify, assess, and mitigate potential privacy risks before they happen.”

“All these steps need to be completed before the launch of the initiative,” that guide says.

Even though the interoperability project has now been scrapped, it implemented changes to how data is collected digitally and used — meaning that the completion of PIAs remains an essential part of that risk identification process, said  Andrew Koltun, an immigration and refugee lawyer who also practices privacy law.

The departments told CBC over email, however, that the privacy assessments are still incomplete. IRCC said it’s currently drafting its portion of the PIA and expects it to be done by the end of 2025.

The fact they still aren’t finished, Koltun said,  raises “a lot of red flags.”

Source: Federal agencies fumble privacy safeguards on asylum system revamp, risking refugee data

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Canada’s border agency plans to use AI to screen everyone entering the country — and single out ‘higher risk’ people

2025/08/30 Leave a comment

Inevitable given the numbers involved and the need to triage applications:

Canada Border Services Agency is planning to use AI to check everyone visiting or returning to the country to predict whether they are at risk of breaking the law. 

Anyone identified as “higher risk” could be singled out for further inspection.

The traveller compliance indicator (TCI), which has been tested at six land ports of entry, was developed using five years of CBSA travellers’ data. It assigns a “compliance score” for every person entering Canada. It will be used to enforce the Customs Act and related regulations.

The AI-assisted tool is expected to launch as early as 2027 and is meant to help border services officers at all land, air and marine ports of entry decide whether to refer travellers and the goods they are carrying for secondary examination, according to an assessment report obtained under an access to information request. 

“We use the obtained data to build predictive models in order to predict the likelihood of a traveller to be compliant,” said the report which was submitted by the border agency to the Treasury Board.

“TCI will improve the client experience by reducing processing time at the borders. The system will allow officers to spend less time on compliant travellers and reduce the number of unnecessary selective referrals.”

However, experts are alarmed by the lack of public engagement and input into the tool’s development. They worry that the system may reinforce human biases against certain types of travellers such as immigrants and visitors from certain countries because the quality of the analytics is only as good as what is inputted.

“If you’ve historically been very critical over a certain group, then that will be in the data and we’ll transfer that into the tool,” said Vancouver-based immigration lawyer Will Tao, who obtained the report.

“You look for the problems and you find problems where you’re looking, right?”

The government report said the border agency serves more than 96 million travellers a year, and trying to keep up with expected growth would require the addition of hundreds of border officers. In addition, physical limitations make it impossible to add extra booths at some points of entry.

The AI tool, the report said, will help keep border processing times at current levels even with an expected increase in the number of travellers. 

“No decisions are automated,” the report said. “Rather the current primary processing is being supported with a flag indicating whether a traveller’s information matches a compliance pattern.”

However, if an officer follows a mistaken recommendation from the tool, it could have impacts that could “last longer,” the report added.

“Once a risk score or indicator is presented to an officer, it can heavily influence their judgment, which in practice means the system is shaping outcomes even if the final authority is technically still human,” said University of Toronto professor Ebrahim Bagheri, who focuses on AI and the study of data and society.

“A false positive is when the system flags someone as risky or non-compliant even though they are in fact compliant. In the border context, that could mean a traveller is singled out for extra questioning or secondary examination even though they’ve done nothing wrong.”

The system is designed to display information of interest to an officer, such as a traveller’s means of transport and who accompanied them. 

It also captures “live determinants” which can include information such as whether the person is travelling alone, the type of identification they presented and the license plate of the vehicle they used, as well as any data from the traveller’s previous trips in CBSA’s records….

Source: Canada’s border agency plans to use AI to screen everyone entering the country — and single out ‘higher risk’ people

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Family paid smugglers to reunite after separation by CBSA at Quebec border

2025/08/19 Leave a comment

Does appear to be an unnecessary disconnect:

A Haitian family was separated at the Quebec-U.S. border this spring due to what an immigration lawyer calls a “legal glitch” some fear could become a wider problem as more migrants flee the United States into Canada. 

The family attempted to enter Canada at the official land crossing in Lacolle, Que., in March, according to immigration documents. 

After reviewing their case, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers allowed only the father in because he has a close relative in Canada. His pregnant wife and seven-year-old daughter were turned away.

Three weeks later, facing pregnancy complications, the mother paid smugglers nearly $4,000 to get herself and her daughter across the border on foot through melting snow to reunite with the father. 

“The border agent should never have separated that family,” said Paule Robitaille, a Montreal-based immigration lawyer who has been working on their case. 

Advocates and lawyers fear family separation could become more common as more migrants in the United States seek asylum in Canada through exceptions outlined in a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Canada, and border services face pressure to limit the number of arrivals. 

Smuggling only option, says father

The father says the family decided to come to Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to end a humanitarian program his predecessor Joe Biden created to prevent people from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from being deported due to turmoil in their countries. 

It’s under that program that the man’s wife and daughter arrived in the U.S. in 2024, three years after he claimed asylum there. 

CBC has agreed not to name the family due to threats the couple have faced in Haiti related to denouncing corruption and sexual violence through their work.

…Restricting access to asylum 

Typically, the close-relative exception to the STCA allows families to enter together; whichever person has the relative in Canada becomes their spouse and children’s anchor, said Maureen Silcoff, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer and former decision-maker at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). 

“People who are turned back at the border in this type of circumstance are subject to what I would call a legal glitch,” Silcoff said, referring to the Haitian family’s situation. 

She believes the glitch is an oversight in the definition of anchor relative outlined in the Safe Third Country Agreement — which doesn’t include pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) applicants like the father. 

It’s a complicated technicality that could prevent people with valid reasons to seek protection in Canada from being able to have their cases considered, both Robitaille and Silcoff say….

Source: Family paid smugglers to reunite after separation by CBSA at Quebec border

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Almost 600 foreign nationals with criminal records due to be deported are missing, CBSA says

2025/07/30 Leave a comment

Will likely not contribute to perception of government managing immigration, along with related broader issues of removals and visa overstays:

Canadian border agents are trying to track down almost 600 foreigners with criminal records who are due to be deported but have gone missing – 431 of whom have been found guilty of serious crimes such as sexual assault.

Figures from the Canada Border Services Agency show that 1,635 foreign nationalsguilty of committing crimes in Canada are currently facing deportation, but 599 of them have failed to attend deportation proceedings and have been placed on the agency’s “wanted” list. 

Of those 599, 315 have been evading deportation for more than three years. Another 46, according to CBSA figures obtained by The Globe and Mail, have been evading the authorities for more than two years. 

Of the foreign nationals due to be deported, 401 are serving a prison sentence and must leave the country after they get out of custody. …

Source: Almost 600 foreign nationals with criminal records due to be deported are missing, CBSA says

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$68M project to secure, revamp Canada’s asylum system shut down unexpectedly, documents show

2025/07/24 Leave a comment

Complex cross organization IT project. Responded to clear need for common platform across silos, even if only partially successful.

Not convinced by arguments against such projects by advocates as current systems and approaches make asylum system more costly with more complex management and oversight.

Advocates continuing to argue for “more resources” are simply denying reality:

A $68-million project led by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that was meant to revamp Canada’s outdated asylum system and enhance the integrity of the country’s borders was quietly shut down last year — an “unexpected” move for some in the government because it was only partly completed, internal documents show. 

Now, some critics fear the outcomes that were achieved may be more harmful than beneficial for people seeking protection in Canada.

IRCC’s “asylum interoperability project” began in 2019 and was supposed to wrap up by 2022. It came during a surge of asylum seekers entering Canada, putting pressure on an already struggling system that relied heavily on paper files. Its launch followed calls for major reform.

The main goals of the project was “to transform the asylum system” into a digital one, automate data and create real-time information sharing between three departments — IRCC, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB).

If these tools are so effective and being implemented, then why do we still have this backlog?- Wei Will Tao, immigration and refugee lawyer

It also hoped to “enhance integrity, security and deterrence within the asylum system,” while improving efficiency and service to claimants, documents show.

It allocated about $48.4 million to IRCC, $15.5 million to CBSA and $3.8 million to the IRB over several years to meet these goals, an internal document shows. IRCC said it had used 75 per cent of its allocated funds.

Through access to information documents, CBC News has learned the project was abandoned in February 2024 after it failed to get another extension from the Department of Finance. 

But just months after prematurely halting this project, then Immigration minister Marc Miller told the House of Commons immigration committee: “I want to reform the system. It’s not working in the way it should.”

At the time, he said Canada’s asylum and refugee system was still struggling due to volume and inefficiency.

According to records obtained by CBC, about 64 per cent of the interoperability project was accomplished. IRCC either scrapped or “deferred” the rest of the tasks to future major IT projects.

“The decision to close the project was unexpected,” reads a 2024 CBSA briefing note.

The latest IRB data shows a backlog of 288,198 pending applications as of last month — a historic high that’s nearly tripled since June 2023, when the interoperability project was well underway.

“The first question is, if these tools are so effective and being implemented, then why do we still have this backlog?” said Wei Will Tao, an immigration and refugee lawyer.

Automation, online portal among goals achieved

All three departments operate their own IT systems, “causing program integrity risks” and delays, a project document reads.

While incrementally rolling out improvements until its shutdown in 2024, the project faced “capacity issues,” “black-out periods” in IRCC’s internal application processing tool Global Case Management System (GCMS), and a “downgrade” in priorities which led to delays past its 2022 finish date, records say.

The project still managed to build an online refugee application process, and automated case creation, data entry and admissibility checks, according to documents. For IRB hearings, the project also allowed more real-time information exchange between departments.

The process to detain and remove people from Canada was also “enhanced,” according to a CBSA briefing note, citing the ability to automatically cancel valid work or study permits when a removal order is issued, among other improvements. 

But there were several wish list items the project couldn’t make happen — like a CBSA officer portal and online applications for pre-removal risk assessments (an application for people facing removal from Canada.)

Another task that was skipped — a function to “view notes associated with a claim in one place,” which would have helped officers’ workflow, CBSA records show.

In a closing note, one government official noted that “the project did deliver on every benefit identified but not all to the depth it aimed to.” 

IRCC declined an interview. The department didn’t specify which tasks it was unable to complete, but said in an email those may be part of future projects. IRCC has hundreds of millions of dollars allocated to digital modernization in the coming years.

Impacts felt, but questions remain

“The actual project itself and the fact that there’s huge funding … that came to us as a bit of a surprise,” said Tao, who’s part of a collective of experts monitoring AI and technological advances in Canada’s immigration system.

Tao said he didn’t “want to deny the positivity” of some digital advancements. But he raised questions around transparency, the kind of information being exchanged between the three departments and how it’s being used by each partner — especially because the IRB is an arms-length, independent tribunal.

“What if there’s information that’s being transmitted behind the scenes that we’re not a party to, or that could implicate our clients’ case without us knowing?” asked Tao, founder of Heron Law Offices in Burnaby, B.C.

Despite multiple followups, the IRB did not respond to CBC’s requests for information. IRCC wrote to CBC that the IRB maintains its adjudicative independence.

“We do have serious concerns about this interoperability — being yes, an efficiency tool and a way for things to be streamlined — … [but] is our ability to contest these systems being altered, or even perhaps barriered, by these tools?” Tao asked.

“Digitization is not the answer,” said Syed Hussan, spokesperson for the Migrant Rights Network. “These so-called streamline mechanisms are actually making life harder for people.”

Hussan said the digital-focused application system has “caused immense havoc” for some people with technological barriers. He also questions the “enormous focus” on sharing private information between agencies and the oversight of that.

“What is framed as a technical step forward is actually a series of policies that make it harder for refugees to gain protection,” said Hussan. “It’s part of a broader turn rightward towards Trump-like policies in the immigration system.”

Hussan said what the system actually needs is more resources for settlement organizations and claimants who need protection.

“Instead there’s actually just mass firing of federal civil servants as well as underfunding of settlement agencies and money being put into these digitization projects — which largely seem to be about streamlining removals rather than ensuring rights,” Hussan said.

Canada enforced more removal orders in the past year than in any other 12-month period since 2019 — 18,048 in the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to CBSA data.

Source: $68M project to secure, revamp Canada’s asylum system shut down unexpectedly, documents show

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CBSA investigates whether suspected senior Iranian officials were allowed entry into Canada

2025/06/26 Leave a comment

Screening is always a challenge but good that efforts being made:

Canadian border authorities say they are investigating or taking enforcement action in 66 cases involving suspected senior Iranian officials who may have been allowed into Canada, despite a law that bars them from entering the country or remaining in it. 

Of the 66, the Canada Border Services Agency has so far identified 20 people as inadmissible because they are believed to be senior Iranian officials, according to figures the agency provided to The Globe and Mail. 

The border agency refers such cases to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, which holds hearings to decide whether someone should be allowed in the country.

One person has so far been removed from Canada for their association with the Iranian government. Two others have been deemed inadmissible and were issued deportation orders. An additional two people were deemed admissible, though the border agency is appealing those decisions. The figures provided to The Globe are current up to June 6. 

“Our strong response to suspected senior officials in the Iranian regime remains in place and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) continues to take action to stop them from seeking or finding safe haven in Canada,” agency spokesperson Rebecca Purdy said in a statement. 

Canada’s record on preventing senior Iranian government officials from entering the country is under increased scrutiny amid the war that broke out between Israel and Iran on June 12. Human-rights activists and lawyers are concerned that Iranian officials, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have already managed to get into Canada and that more will attempt to do so…

Source: CBSA investigates whether suspected senior Iranian officials were allowed entry into Canada

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Immigration irrégulière: Dans les cahiers secrets des passeurs

2025/03/07 Leave a comment

Interesting insights into cross-border people smugglers and traffickers:

L’enquête sur ce réseau de passeurs d’une ampleur inusitée au Québec a bénéficié de la collaboration étroite entre les services frontaliers du Canada et ceux des États-Unis. Ironiquement, elle pourrait connaître son dénouement alors que le président Donald Trump accuse toujours le Canada de ne pas être assez proactif en matière de sécurité frontalière.

Les carnets saisis par l’Agence des services frontaliers du Canada (ASFC) sur deux dirigeants de l’organisation à Montréal se sont avérés une mine d’information inespérée. Dans des centaines de pages de documents judiciaires déposés devant les tribunaux, les enquêteurs dressent leurs constats sur les ramifications du réseau actif dans trois pays. Selon eux :

  • L’organisation criminelle mexicaine compte une dizaine de collaborateurs connus à Montréal, dont plusieurs ont des liens familiaux ;
  • Elle organise la traversée clandestine de la frontière dans les deux sens : du Québec vers les États-Unis et vice-versa ;
  • Elle collecte entre 5000 $ et 6000 $ par passage, ce qui lui a rapporté au moins 1 million de dollars en sept mois ;
  • Elle serait aussi active dans le trafic de stupéfiants ;
  • Elle est soupçonnée d’être liée aux cartels de la drogue.

Le dossier revêt une importance particulière pour l’ASFC, qui n’a pas l’habitude de se frotter à des réseaux de passeurs aussi prolifiques.

« Je serais porté à dire que c’est le plus gros, ou celui qui semble le plus structuré. Je vais faire attention, parce qu’on est encore en train d’enquêter, mais c’est dans les plus gros qu’on a eus dans la région du Québec », affirme en entrevue Tony Dos Santos, directeur adjoint responsable des enquêtes criminelles de l’ASFC pour le Québec.

Nouvelle réalité avec la fermeture du chemin Roxham

La Presse a obtenu des copies des précieux cahiers de comptabilité, déposées en preuve au tribunal de l’immigration. Tout y était soigneusement consigné : les noms des clients ayant eu recours aux services de l’organisation, leurs numéros de téléphone, les coordonnées d’un ami ou d’un membre de leur famille qui servait de « caution », les montants payés, la date de leur passage, la liste des recruteurs sur le sol mexicain et des complices du côté américain.

“C’est rare qu’on a de la preuve comme ça ! Je vais être franc, on ne voit plus ça, en 2024, des calepins de ce genre avec des inscriptions. C’est un cas vraiment old school.”

 Tony Dos Santos, directeur adjoint responsable des enquêtes criminelles de l’ASFC pour le Québec

L’agence constate une recrudescence du recours à des groupes de passeurs organisés depuis deux ans. Autrefois, les migrants pouvaient se rendre jusqu’au chemin Roxham, traverser à pied et demander l’asile au Canada sur place. La fermeture du chemin Roxham en 2023 a changé la donne. « Maintenant, ils doivent carrément entrer de façon illégale, attendre et se cacher 14 jours au Canada avant de lever la main et de demander le statut de réfugié, sinon on les renvoie aux États-Unis », explique M. Dos Santos. Le recours aux groupes de passeurs organisés a augmenté en conséquence.

« Ce type d’organisation criminelle est impitoyable et menace souvent les consommateurs s’ils ne payent pas, ou les place dans une situation vulnérable », précise un rapport de l’ASFC déposé en preuve…

Source: Immigration irrégulière Dans les cahiers secrets des passeurs

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CBSA lost track of nearly 30,000 people wanted for deportation orders

2024/12/12 Leave a comment

Sigh….

Nearly 30,000 individuals wanted for deportation are currently at large in Canada, newly-released documents suggest.

In a response to an order paper question filed by Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP Laila Goodridge on deportation cases currently before the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), 29,731 people are listed as “wanted” by immigration authorities — described as those who failed to appear for deportation proceedings, including those with immigration warrants issued against them.

The vast majority — 21,325 — went missing from Ontario, the largest cohort of immigration absconders in the country.

As Canada’s affordability crisis, plus threats of punitive tariffs from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, has the federal government rethinking Canada’s problematic and ineffective border policy, the Trudeau Liberals’ plans on slowing Canada’s record population growth and tightening our immigration space involves relying on the voluntary departure of nearly 2.4 million people over the next two years.

In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to cut the number of permanent residents coming into Canada from current targets of 500,000 — down to 395,000 next year and 380,000 by 2026.

According to the newly-released data, there are 457,646 people in various stages of being deported from Canada as of Oct. 21 — 27,675 people are listed in the “working” category, or those in the final stages of the removal process; 378,320 people being “monitored,” or those awaiting refugee status decisions, pending permanent status resident or facing “unenforceable” removal orders; 20,921 people granted a stay from removal proceedings; and 29,730 who were ordered removed but their location isn’t known.

After Ontario, Quebec saw the most people wanted by the CBSA with 6,109, followed by 1,390 in British Columbia, 705 for Alberta, and between 0 and 100 for other provinces and territories.

Of those who have already been successfully deported,  Mexicans represent the largest number, with 7,622 people.

That’s followed by 3,955 Indians, 1,785 Americans, 1,516 people from China, 864 from Pakistan, 858 Nigerians and 794 Colombians.

Source: CBSA lost track of nearly 30,000 people wanted for deportation orders

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Immigration department received intelligence about huge rise in clandestine U.S.-Canada border crossings last year

2024/12/07 Leave a comment

Good questions regarding senior official and minister awareness:

Intelligence experts within Canada’s border agency informed the federal immigration department last December about a big rise in illegal crossings of the Canada-U.S. border, including into the States, which raises questions about why action to curb it was not taken earlier.

An intelligence document sent to senior Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officials, says smugglers were moving people across the border in both directions, with some foreign nationals flying into Canada at major airports and swiftly slipping across the border into the United States.

The Canada Border Services Agency’s intelligence analysis says clandestine entries have led to thousands of refugee claims, mostly in the Greater Toronto Area.

The document says “the Southbound movement into the United States (US) has grown significantly since 2022″ adding that “the majority of individuals who attempt to cross southbound illegally arrive by air, mainly at Montreal Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport and move quickly.”

It found that “the vast majority were very likely in Canada for less than 6 months of which a large portion were in Canada for less than 3 weeks.”

Ministers have insisted in recent weeks, amid heightened tensions between U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and Ottawa over illegal immigration into the U.S., that Canada’s borders are secure.

But the emergence of the detailed analysis by the CBSA’s Intelligence and Investigations Directorate raises questions about whether ministers were ignorant of the extent of people smuggling into the U.S. from Canada, and in the other direction….

Source: Immigration department received intelligence about huge rise in clandestine U.S.-Canada border crossings last year

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