OTTAWA: There is no statistical evidence that irregular border crossers are acting as “anchor relatives” to bring other family members into Canada, despite the tactic being flagged as a new phenomenon by the Canada Border Services Agency.
CBSA officers say they have noticed some refugee claimants who have crossed into Canada irregularly are now acting as “anchor relatives,” allowing their immediate and extended family members to cross at an official border entry and not be considered irregular migrants.
But data from Public Safety Canada shows this has not led to an increase in the number of asylum seekers using this loophole to come to Canada; in fact the numbers are trending downward.
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, asylum seekers who first arrive in the U.S. and then try to make a refugee claim in Canada at an official border crossing will be turned back unless they qualify for one of four exceptions _ one of which is having a family member already in Canada.
Statistics show there are actually fewer claimants using these exemptions to make a refugee claim in Canada.
In 2017, the average number of people who qualified for an exception under the Safe Third Country Agreement was 531. So far in 2018, the average is 318.
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