Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden take part in a meeting on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Friday, March 24, 2023. Republicans and Democrats are doing battle today over what one side calls a “crisis†of illegal immigration at the Canada-U.S. border. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
WASHINGTON – Republicans and Democrats are doing battle today over what one side calls a “crisis” of illegal immigration at the Canada-U.S. border.
Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security say their Republican counterparts are trying to manufacture a non-existent crisis.
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), chairman of the homeland security oversight subcommittee, says border patrol agents are ill-equipped to deal with an increase in migrants entering the U.S. from Canada.
But Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) cites statistics showing there were more encounters during the Trump administration, which redirected resources to the southern border.
Up until Saturday, it was Canada that was dealing with a flood of asylum seekers entering from the U.S. at unofficial entry points like Roxham Road in Quebec.
That all changed after President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed a new agreement Friday to block the movement of would-be claimants between official border crossings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2023.
