The leader of a Manitoba community dealing with an uptick in asylum seekers arriving on foot from the United States says he feels reassured after meeting with police and border officials on Thursday.
Greg Janzen is Reeve in Emerson, Man., where 61 refugee claimants have crossed the rural border from the U.S. since January. Many are African migrants who feared they would be deported by the Donald Trump administration.
Janzen said the community of 700 people had concerns about a 鈥渟afety risk鈥� but he was reassured to hear that the RCMP is devoting more resources to patrolling the highways and promised to 鈥渨atch the people.鈥�
Janzen said the Canadian Border Service Agency and RCMP explained to him that claimants are searched by police right after being picked up and then released to a border official. The border official interviews them for a couple of hours after that.
Janzen added that the CBSA has agreed to rent out the community centre to act as a shelter. The refugee claimants cannot work without a permit but can access social assistance while making their claim.
"We are all willing to work together,鈥� Janzen said. 鈥淚f there is more influx of bigger groups coming through, they assured us that they will have the manpower to handle an influx."
Room at the inn
The local Emerson Hotel is often the first place the asylum seekers arrive. Hotel bartender Wayne Pfiel says he鈥檚 greeted about 40 of them over the past few years.
鈥淚 feel sad when they鈥檙e walking through the fields or going down the highway and (if) I see them I take them in and give them a helping hand,鈥� he said.
Pfiel added that he always offers them food and coffee, and sometimes a room.
Pfiel said that unlike some people in Emerson, he does not see the new arrivals as a safety threat. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not criminals,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey want to start a new life.鈥�
The rural border crossings can be dangerous. so severe last month that he lost all of his fingers.
But the trip can be worthwhile.Winnipeg immigration lawyer Bashir Khan told CTV News Channel that, in his experience, 鈥�80 to 90 per cent of the people who are denied asylum in the United States do end up winning their refugee claim before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.鈥�
Canada Border Services Agency statistics show 11,000 refugee claimants were processed at designated ports last year, while more than 2,000 claimants entered "irregularly."
Although refugee claimants who arrive at designated ports from the U.S. are sent back to make their claim there, those who sneak across the border
With files from CTV鈥檚 Jill Macyshon, CTV Winnipeg鈥檚 Beth MacDonell and The Canadian Press
