\u200b<\/a><\/strong>The increase of would-be refugee claimants sneaking into Canada from the U.S. has raised\u00a0questions about whether more needs to be\u00a0done to beef up border\u00a0security in both countries. In recent weeks, dozens from the U.S. seeking asylum\u00a0have hiked through\u00a0the snowy fields to\u00a0cross the porous border near the town of Emerson, Man.<\/p>\n ![\"Refugees](\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/a9bac_refugees-border-20170209.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A sign near Emerson, Man., where refugee claimants have been crossing at a closed border port into Canada. (John Woods\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
\n\n\n\n\nSetting up checkpoints in the U.S. along roads heading\u00a0to Emerson may deter some asylum\u00a0seekers from crossing into Canada, Leuprecht\u00a0said. But it’s unlikely to stem the flow.<\/p>\n
“We would probably just displace the flow to one of the smaller crossings,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Because of the nature of the border and the number of crossings, I\u00a0don’t think that’s realistically\u00a0feasible, but it would act as a bit of a deterrent.”<\/p>\n
‘Quiet discussions’<\/h2>\n
Instead, the\u00a0RCMP\u00a0could\u00a0work\u00a0with U.S. border patrol agents\u00a0to strengthen enforcement on U.S. roads near the Emerson crossing, he said.<\/p>\n
“I suspect that’s the quiet discussions the\u00a0RCMP\u00a0will already be having with [U.S.] border patrol.”<\/p>\n
![\"Emerson-Franklin](\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/a9bac_emerson-franklin-reeve-greg-janzen.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Emerson-Franklin Reeve Greg Janzen points to the U.S. border. (Lyza Sale\/CBC)<\/p>\n
On the Canadian side, the Canada Border Services Agency is responsible for security at official points of entry. However,\u00a0the\u00a0RCMP\u00a0is tasked with patrolling the large areas\u00a0between them.<\/p>\n
\nIn a\u00a0townhall\u00a0meeting in Emerson last week,\u00a0RCMP\u00a0spokeswoman Tara\u00a0Seel\u00a0confirmed that the force has “allocated resources to that area” and that officers are working very closely “with our\u00a0partners\u00a0across the border.”<\/p>\n
“We do have technology, we do have patrols, we do have an integrated\u00a0border enforcement team, we have detachments across\u00a0the\u00a0border,” Seel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is a challenge, though, considering\u00a0they are responsible for patrolling over 500 kilometres of border in Manitoba.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It is quite an extensive region that we are responsible\u00a0for, but we\u00a0do have resources in place that are necessary,” she said.<\/p>\n
Leuprecht said both the Canadians and Americans have an interest in making sure those who seek to cross illegally into each other’s country are apprehended.<\/p>\n
Each other’s best partners<\/h2>\n
‘The basic premise is we’re each other’s friends and we’re each other’s best partners,” Leuprecht said. “So anyone who crosses north to south or south to north outside of a port of entry \u2014 \u00a0[that’s]\u00a0conduct that is not in the interest of either country.”<\/p>\n
![\"Refugee](\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/a9bac_refugee-crossings-into-manitoba.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Many refuge-seekers looking to come into Canada from the U.S. have crossed the border from North Dakota or Minnesota into Manitoba. (CBC)<\/p>\n
According to U.S. law, the area within 80 kilometres of a U.S. border is considered\u00a0a border zone, meaning any law enforcement agency can stop anyone there and ask\u00a0for identification or\u00a0ask\u00a0what they’re doing.<\/p>\n
“So U.S. border patrol is an important partner in this effort,” Leuprecht said.<\/p>\n
To\u00a0patrol the border on the Prairies,\u00a0the U.S. relies on drones, said Leuprecht. During the day, there’s permanent drone surveillance, meaning\u00a0many\u00a0asylum seekers who want to avoid border posts\u00a0are more likely to cross at night.<\/p>\n
Infrared technology\u00a0is used to patrol the border, but at night it’s much\u00a0more difficult to detect people. Heat signatures also can be traced but\u00a0by the time they are detected, it’s usually too late, and people are usually out in a field somewhere, Leuprecht said.<\/p>\n
“So people cross at night because they know during the\u00a0day, they will be apprehended by border patrol.”<\/p>\n
Threat called unlikely<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUniversity of Ottawa professor and\u00a0security expert Wesley Wark said he doesn’t\u00a0believe the relatively small flow of people crossing the border so far has\u00a0any security\u00a0implications.<\/p>\n
He said he doesn’t believe Canada should worry about organized terrorists who\u00a0would\u00a0try to exploit these types of routes to get into Canada.<\/p>\n
“In terms of nefarious\u00a0activity, whether it’s terrorist related or people\u00a0smuggling or drug\u00a0smuggling or anything like that, the remoteness and the difficulty of crossing the border in these kinds of ways I think largely rules that out.”<\/p>\n
\n- ‘We’re willing to step up,’ says Emerson reeve<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Article source: http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/refugees-border-security-patrol-rcmp-1.3976536?cmp=rss<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Canadian\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. officials\u00a0need to co-ordinate their efforts to help stem the flow of would-be refugee claimants sneaking into Canada, which includes beefing up patrols on roads heading north to the border, says one security expert. “Basically we need to make sure we work with\u00a0U.S. border patrol\u00a0and state troopers to try to intercept\u00a0suspicious\u00a0vehicles long before they make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-70442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}