The trickle of refugees fleeing the U.S. to Canada could become a deluge in the spring
OTTAWA — As desperate asylum seekers continue to flee the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown by crossing into Canada, concern is growing here over whether the country will be able to cope if the number of migrants keeps growing.
Stories of migrants hauling children and suitcases across frozen fields and snow-covered ditches into Canada have become headline news. The asylum seekers, who are fleeing President Trump’s travel and refugee bans as well as stepped-up arrests of undocumented immigrants, have received warm welcomes. But opposition politicians are criticizing the government of Justin Trudeau for being too harsh or too lax in its approach.
In a recent survey from the Angus Reid Institute, a Vancouver-based opinion research firm, most Canadians were supportive of the government’s decision to maintain its target of accepting 40,000 refugees in 2017. But 25 percent wanted to see Ottawa enact a travel ban similar to the Trump order.
In answer to a separate question, 40 percent said they think Canada is accepting too many refugees. The number of refugee claims has spiked since the election of Trump. On the Quebec border with the United States alone, there were 452 claims in January compared with 137 in the same month a year ago.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/23/the-trickle-of-refugees-fleeing-the-u-s-to-canada-could-become-a-deluge-in-the-spring/?tid=pm_world_pop&utm_term=.481a4e804c28
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