Ottawa poised to restore visa requirements for Mexicans, Quebec says | 24CA News
The Quebec authorities says it has been informed by Ottawa that the federal authorities plans to deliver again visa necessities for Mexican nationals, one thing Premier Francois Legault has been pushing for to curb the rising variety of asylum seekers to the province.
When requested by Global News if the Quebec authorities has been knowledgeable that the federal authorities is reintroducing the visa requirement, a spokesperson for the province’s ministry of immigration responded: “Yes, we were informed.”
The news was first reported by Radio Canada.
In a press release to Global News, spokesperson for Quebec’s ministry of immigration, Maude Méthot-Faniel, stated in French this is a crucial step ahead, however won’t resolve every part.
She added Quebec takes in half of all asylum seekers in Canada and of those, 25 per cent are Mexican nationals.
A spokesperson for federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller didn’t reply when requested about visa reintroductions when requested Wednesday evening. Neither did the Prime Minister’s Office.
“We cannot comment yet on the matter,” stated Alfonso Vera Sánchez, press attaché with the Mexican embassy in Canada in an e mail to Global News.
The Liberals lifted the visa requirement in 2016, making it simpler for folks from Mexico to make an asylum declare in Canada.
Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada exhibits the variety of asylum claims from Mexico elevated 2,000 per cent for the reason that Liberals have been elected, from 110 in 2015 to 25,236 in 2023 — the very best variety of claims from any nation final 12 months. The backlog of claims from Mexico presently sits at over 28,000, in keeping with the division.
In the final 12 months alone, there have been 46 per cent extra asylum claims from Mexican nationals in comparison with 2022.
Legault cited the rise in Mexican claimants in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau final month, warning that his province’s companies for refugees are reaching a “breaking point.”
The Conservatives have urged the Liberals to reinstate the visa requirement for Mexicans, arguing the change has led to fraud, abuse and pressure on the asylum system.
The Biden administration has additionally warned that human traffickers linked to Mexican cartels could also be exploiting Canada’s visa-free regime with the intention to get folks into the U.S., circumventing the extraordinary concentrate on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mexico’s international ministry has maintained that conserving the necessities lifted was necessary to protect the financial advantages of simpler journey between Canada and Mexico.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated final month that the federal government has been in talks with Mexico on the problem.
But in a press convention Wednesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated Canada was on the verge of making use of “unilateral measures” on Mexico to regulate immigration, on which he stated his administration has all the time cooperated.
He threatened to skip the upcoming North American Leaders or “Three Amigos” summit, set to happen in Canada later this 12 months, if he feels Mexico isn’t getting “respectful treatment” on immigration and different points from Canada and the U.S.
— with recordsdata from the Canadian Press
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