Feds Allowed Entry to Over 40% of Foreign Border-Crossers Deemed Risky: Audit

An asylum seeker is confronted by an RCMP officer as he crosses the border into Canada from the United States on Aug. 21, 2017 near Champlain, N.Y. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson)

Over 40 percent of foreign border-crossers deemed by border agents to be security risks were still allowed into Canada by the Department of Immigration, according to a report.

“Due to multiple factors and considerations, the Department of Immigration authorized entry or permission to stay in Canada to a significant proportion of applicants who had received a non-favourable recommendation or an inconclusive screening,” wrote the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in an internal audit obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The audit, titled “Evaluation Of The Immigration National Security Screening Program,” said that out of a total of over 7,600, more than 3,300 border-crossers deemed a security concern by the CBSA were allowed into the country by the Immigration Department.

The CBSA marked some border-crossers as a security risk according to the Immigration And Refugee Act on the grounds of suspicions like “espionage,” “terrorism,” “danger to the security of Canada,” “subversion,” and “war crimes.”

The agency said all individuals aged 18 and older who submit a refugee claim in Canada are “subject to the front-end security screening process.”

The CBSA also marked the files of over 14,200 foreign border-crossers as “inconclusive,” meaning the crossers were either missing paperwork or the agency had concerns about them that it said “cannot be ruled out,” Blacklock’s reported.

Out of the migrants with such files, the Immigration Department admitted entry to over 11,500—or about 81 percent—for reasons including “national interest” or disagreement with the CBSA’s conclusions on their files.

“Only 10 percent were refused,” said the CBSA’s audit. “The remaining applications were withdrawn or were pending a decision.”

“The National Security Screening Program may issue an inconclusive finding result on an application,” it added. “There are various scenarios under which this could occur, e.g. missing information.”

The audit did not mention any plans to carry out a follow-up on the thousands border-crossers flagged as security risks allowed into Canada.

Calls to Close Roxham Road

The CBSA’s audit comes amid calls from the Official Opposition for the federal government to close the unofficial border-crossing at Roxham Road in Quebec, through which thousands of migrants seeking asylum have been entering Canada.

Over 39,000 migrants claimed asylum in Canada after being intercepted by the RCMP while crossing into Quebec in 2022, according to federal statistics, compared to just 369 across the rest of the country.

On Feb. 21, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to close the unofficial entry point within 30 days.

Quebec Premier François Legault has also called on Ottawa several times to close the border crossing, saying it “will have to be closed one day or another, whether we like it or not.”

However, Trudeau has maintained that closing the unofficial border would not slow the high numbers of asylum seekers from entering Canada as they would simply cross at another entry point.

“The only way to effectively shut down not just Roxham Road but the entire border to these irregular crossings is to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement,” he said on Feb. 22.