A crackdown on illegal immigrants south of the border has caused a ripple effect in Peel Region, as taxpayers have so far doled out more than $70,000 in accommodation bills for people claiming refugee status in Canada.
Peel Executive Director of Human Services Janet Menard told councillors Thursday that residents have been footing the bill to house several dozen families in hotels for the last five months.
More than 60 families, most of them from Central America and the Caribbean, have settled in Peel as a result of more stringent rules imposed by the U.S. government with respect to illegal immigration.
“We are seeing significant numbers of immigrants who have been living illegally in the United States for many years coming to Canada in fear of deportation from the United States,” Menard said. “Over the past five months we have assisted 68 families and we currently have 19 families at the Peel Family Shelter and are supporting 15 additional families in a motel in Mississauga. At this point in time we have incurred a cost of about $71,000 in hotel expenses up until the end of October and that doesn’t include food. So we are tracking the costs and we will speak to the federal government.”
Menard explained migrants are making their way to the area mainly from the communities of Niagara Falls and Windsor.
Some are entering Canada and claiming refugee status while others are either claiming to be visitors or simply entering the country illegally, Menard said.
Loading ...
1 response so far ↓
1 thinkeryyz // Nov 20, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Canada signed an agreement with the US that would disallow asylum seekers to go to the US from Canada or vice versa if they applied for Asylum in the first country or could have done so.However Canada loves third world immigration as no european people would put up with the low wages and part time conditions. The tax payer has to pay for their own disposession.
You must log in to post a comment.