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Police in Canada are reportedly bracing for an "exodus" from the United States as asylum seekers try to flee the country before President-elect Donald Trump is reinstated in the White House.
Knewz.com has learned that Canada is already dealing with a record number of refugee claimants and is trying to let fewer immigrants into the country, according to reports.
Trump's election victory has already sparked considerable concern among the immigrant population in the U.S., as his road to the White House was marked with anti-immigrant rhetoric and promises of "largest deportation in American history."
It has been reported that thousands of asylum seekers fled the U.S. in 2017 as well, after Trump's first Presidential term began, and entered Canada through the Quebec-New York border to file refugee claims.
However, entering Canada through the official border crossing points is no longer an option due to a bilateral agreement between Canada and the U.S. which states that asylum-seekers trying to cross anywhere along the 4,000-mile border will be denied entry—barring a few exceptions.
As a result, the only viable option for those attempting to emigrate to Canada in the wake of a Trump Presidency is to illegally cross the border and hide out for a couple of weeks before seeking asylum from the Canadian government.
Abdulla Daoud, director of The Refugee Centre in Montreal, commented regarding the tighter border laws, "When you don't create legitimate pathways, or when you only create pathways where people have to do the impossible to receive safety, you know, unfortunately, people are going to try to do the impossible."
Crossing the border illegally poses significant safety risks, especially in the winter, said Loly Rico, the founder of Toronto's FCJ Refugee Centre. In the winter of 2022, a family of four reportedly froze to death trying to cross the Canadian border in Manitoba.
She also said in a statement that Trump's victory in the 2024 elections will directly lead to "more people crossing the border, appearing in cities and looking for support."
"It's going to be a challenge for any refugee in the United States to feel that they belong, and that's why they will start looking what other countries can start giving them protection," Rico added.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sergeant Charles Poirier said in a recent statement that the police have been preparing for the possibility of illegal border crossings for months.
"We knew a few months ago that we had to start prepping a contingency plan because if he comes into power, which now he will in a few months, it could drive illegal migration and irregular migration into (the province of) Quebec and into Canada," Poirier said.
"Worst-case scenario would be people crossing in large numbers everywhere on the territory. … Let's say we had 100 people per day entering across the border, then it's going to be hard because our officers will basically have to cover huge distances in order to arrest everyone," the Police Sergeant added.
He further stated that police in Canada are on high alert regarding the border, and ready to supply more resources for patrolling.
"All eyes are on the border right now. … We were on high alert, I can tell you, a few days before the election, and we'll probably remain on alert for the next coming weeks," Poirier told Reuters.
It has been reported that, depending on the situation, the additional resources required for border patrol could include "hundreds more officers... more cruisers, chartering buses, building trailers, and renting land."
On the other hand, the U.S. Department of State has reportedly received a record number of applications for passports in 2024, seemingly indicating that Americans want out of the nation as another term of the Trump presidency is at hand.
The Department said that it processed "approximately 24.5 million passport books and cards – half a million more than last year’s record-breaking totals," according to a recent press release.
In addition, "More than one million Americans have successfully applied to renew their passports through the Online Passport Renewal (OPR) system, which we fully launched in September," the State Department noted.
It has been reported that many liberal Americans reportedly consider, or joke about, leaving the country after a Republican takes the White House, with many eyeing Canada as a possible refuge.
Bushra Seddique, an editorial fellow at The Atlantic who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021, recently wrote that a significant number of individuals she spoke to intend to emigrate rather than live under Trump's reign.
"I spoke with Americans from different backgrounds and communities about their plans to emigrate if Trump wins. Some are worried about their physical well-being, others about the future of same-sex marriage, and still others are distressed about the possibility of large-scale violence in the aftermath of [Trump's] victory—or even his defeat," Seddique wrote at a time when the results of the 2024 elections were yet to be declared.
She added that while many Americans certainly will not follow through with their plans to leave the U.S., it is noteworthy that "their fear [of a Trump Presidency] is great enough that they are seriously considering it."