Former Lancastrian

After the earthquake 100,000 Haitians were eligible for the TPS. The number is estimated to be 58,000 to 70,000 in the USA. An actual figure quoted by the Miami Herald states 58,000 actually registered.

Also there are 57,000 Hondurans enrolled in the TPS from Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
The total of estimated people in the USA from 13 countries under the TPS is 300,000 and Trump is looking at not extending their status.

Shard

Thanks FL. Not excessive numbers (Haiti alone). If they pass the snowbank 'test' let 'em in.

dbd33

They are crossing illegally because, as Former Lancastrian has explained umpteen times, they know that if they do so, Canada has to process their refugee claims. If they try to cross legally they get turfed. Canada could change that, make it possible to send them back when they arrive illegally but the political cost is high. That means getting into a fight with the Trump "administration" and with the US more generally. It's cheaper to put up with Trump dumping his Haitians.

I don't know anything about the Haitians, btw, Trump's dumping them through prejudice but he may be giving up a valuable asset; what's the typical status of a Haitian in Canada after ten years?

BristolUK

By way of contrast/comparison:
After the volcanic eruption that made much of Montserrat inhabitable, the UK gave temporary refuge to around 4000 Montserratians, fairly quickly giving permanent rights to them as well as the rest of the population, unless they had settled elsewhere.

According to wiki, they numbered 8000 in the 2001 census, falling to about 7300 in 2011 census.

carcajou

They are economic refugees. Seven years is enough time to get their situation sorted in Haiti.

However, they are highly encouraged to apply for residence using the same processes as everyone else, and if they qualify, welcome!

They are not welcome to abuse the asylum process to jump the migration queue.

Trudeau has learned nothing and thinks sending a bureaucrat down to Miami to talk to them will fix this. It would be hysterical if not so serious. The flow of money in the US is ending, and if you allow some to abuse the process, cross illegally into Canada and disappear - the flood will come. What's happening now is just the tip of the iceberg.

Haitians arriving via legal means are welcome.

Is Quebec really the place Trudeau wants to kick off a migration furor?

Shard

Yes, they may well be valuable assets, given that Haiti is one of the unluckiest countries in the world.
The "economic migrant" argument is quite a blunt tool, there are degrees of economic hardship and geographical circumstances. In Haiti's case, Canada could be more lenient.

caretaker

Deportations already exceed last year's total.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1B42QE

magnumpi

Meanwhile they clog the system while legitimate applicants sit back and patiently wait in line

BristolUK

I think there are a few differences though. Regardless of the legality of crossing into Canada, they have still lost their home through disaster as compared to the person exchanging a comfortable life for another comfortable life with no particular urgency involved.

A major piece of advice to people on BE is to apply for one of the temporary statuses in Canada and then use that to turn it into something more permanent. Then there's the questionable get in under a provincial method and then move somewhere else "when it doesn't work out" Isn't there a similar element of 'wrongness' in that too? Getting in under one category, hoping to change it to another?

Bit of a double standard, no?

Oakvillian

I'll acknowledge that it's probably not typical of the career path of your average Haitian refugee, but Michaëlle Jean, former Governor General of Canada and current sec-gen of the Organisiation Internationale de la Francophonie, came to Canada as a refugee from Haiti (her father had been arrested and tortured by Papa Doc Duvalier's regime) in 1968.

BristolUK

See?

magnumpi

At the end of the day it sends the wrong message IMO, come x our borders and get refused or illegally enter away from a border crossing, get arrested, start of a criminal record history and bam, welcome to Canada.

Shard

Exactly. Economic migration is a relative thing.

magnumpi

Instead of sending a guy down the US to talk with Haitians would it not be more beneficial to discus their future status in America with the US Gov ?

dbd33

Refer to the leaked conversation between Trump and Malcolm Turnbull. The Canadians would be wasting their breath.