Canada has reported a sharp jump in asylum claims from people fleeing across the border from the United States, as the Trump administration intensifies its hardline stance on immigration.
Officials in Canada said they have received more than 5,500 asylum claims since the beginning of July at one border crossing – Quebec’s Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing, south of Montreal.
The figure represents a 263% increase from the same period last year, according to data from the Canada Border Services Agency.
The spike in border crossings comes as President Trump ramps up military-style raids by armed, masked, agents of the Department for Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency as the White House presses them to hit deportation targets.
The Trump administration’s operation is targeting immigrants in the U.S. illegally with criminal records, and has seen over 200,000 people arrested, and over 50,000 detained so far this year. Many are being seized from their homes, while going to work, outside courthouses and at store parking lots.
Many of those arrested and detained have had previous protections allowing them to legally remain in the U.S. removed by the government.
Earlier this year the Trump administration revoked temporary legal status granted to more than 800,000 immigrants who fled violence, disasters and instability in countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
This week, Trump deployed the National Guard to Memphis and suggested he could also send troops into Chicago. The White House has previously sent them into Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
As well as those who may face deportation from the U.S. trying to flee the country, increasing numbers of U.S. citizens are also trying to leave, the Canadian figures suggest.
Data from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada covering claims of alleged persecution within the U.S. last month revealed there were 245 refugee applications made by U.S. citizens in the first six months of this year.
This represents a sharp rise in claims, with 204 referrals filed by Americans in the whole of 2024.
Canada’s acceptance of U.S. refugees has historically been low. Applicants must convince the board that nowhere in the U.S. offers them safety to gain asylum.
The Canadian data does not specify why Americans are seeking refugee status north of the border, a nation which Trump has said he wants to become the 51st U.S. state.
Nonetheless, the trend appears to reflect a perception among some Americans that their safety and rights are at risk due to the Trump administration’s policies, ranging from a rollback of LGBTQ+ rights to attacks against academic institutions.
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