Canada pledges to improve border security after meeting with Trump official
By Casey Harper | The Center Square
(The Center Square) — A leading member of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet says that Canada will bolster its border security after meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s Commerce Secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc made the comments to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after Trump threatened broad 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico if they do not help stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S.
“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” Trump said in a statement last week threatening the 25% tariff..
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Trump continued. “We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
Trudeau flew to Palm Beach to meet with Trump over the weekend to try to dissuade Trump on the tariff issue.
Under the Biden administration, a record 14 million illegal border crossers were reported, including two million gotaways exclusively reported by The Center Square.
The majority were apprehended at the southwest border but a record number of roughly 200,000 were apprehended at the northern border, the most in US history under the Biden and Trudeau administrations, The Center Square first reported.
The majority of those on the terrorist watchlist have been apprehended at the northern border, over 1,200, the greatest number in US history, under the Biden and Trudeau administrations, The Center Square reported.
Trump’s pick for border czar, Tom Homan, has warned of the threat at the US-Canadian border for years, telling The Center Square, “There’s always been a national security vulnerability there; it remains a national security vulnerability. There are hundreds of miles of open border that is not being patrolled and that’s just a stone-cold fact.”
Homan told 7News in Watertown, New York, that the Trump administration plans to place more agents at the northern border and end the catch-and-release policies of the Biden administration. “If you’re gonna cross the St. Lawrence River or the lake or on foot, they need to know, you can come, but you’re going to be arrested. You’re not going to be released and we’re going to remove you. There’s not going to be like the Biden Administration where we process ya and release ya and you don’t show up in court.
“You’re not walking away. We’re gonna lock you up. So more agents, we’ll end catch and release and President Trump will need to work with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and say look, you need to enforce the immigration laws you have because this is a gateway to the U.S.”
