This is quite troublesome: in the name of political correctness, police forces are not targeting Mexicans who come to Canada unscreened, even though they are aware of a burgeoning problem concerning drug trafficking and criminal activity. Is this sensible? Or is Canada the land of the naive? Do we need to have a problem when it Can be avoided? If so, why? Does this approach make any sense? This is a head-scratchier....
No measures to counter Mexican gang activity: RCMP
No measures to counter Mexican gang activity: RCMP
Giuseppe Valiante, National Post
Despite a sharp rise in the number of refugee claimants from Mexico, a senior RCMP official says the police force is not taking extra measures to counter possible gang activity.
"Keeping with our biased-free strategy of policing, we are not profiling. You know all the issues around that. And that's something we steer clear of," said Superintendent William Malone, the force's director of organized crime. "We would focus on the criminal group, not necessarily the country in which they come from."
In the first four months of 2009, 4,768 asylum applications from Mexico were referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board, the highest of any country of origin. The number of applications has jumped since Mexican President Felipe Calderon started cracking down on drug cartels in the past couple of years.
While Mexican cartel operatives have taken over some established criminal organizations in the United States in order to expand into the cocaine retail market, Supt. Malone said there isn't any evidence of that occurring here.
"As far as I know, we have nothing at this point in time," he said on the phone from his Ottawa headquarters. "Are we concerned? Of course we're concerned.... The Mexican and U. S. authorities are having an impact on what's going on and are having some significant challenges down there, but in my opinion they are doing an excellent job at keeping them at bay."
A spokesman from the Mexican embassy in Ottawa told the National Post recently that a high percentage of applications from Mexico are denied and there is a significant amount of scam artists who charge Mexicans for false information about coming to Canada.
A spokesperson for Citizen and Immigration Canada said they could not get into specifics about their efforts to curtail immigration fraud from Mexico: "We do work with the local authorities to ensure that [fraudsters] are prosecuted."
Canada Border Services Agency wouldn't comment specifically on Mexico either.
"The CBSA's enforcement activities are essential to preserving the integrity of the immigration and refugee program, and protecting the safety and security of Canada's communities," wrote spokeswoman Tracie LeBlanc in an email.
Carlos Spector, a Texasbased immigration lawyer who represents many refugee claimants in the United States, said Canada is more favour-able than the United States as a destination because a refugee claimant entering America will be greeted with between seven and 12 months detention at large border facilities.
Refugee applicants who are referred to the IRB in Canada, meanwhile, are permitted to live freely until their hearing, which takes on average 16½months.
Mr. Spector said Canada can expect more refugees as Mexican citizens flee the cartels and the military, which has thousands of troops stationed in northern Mexican towns, many of whom are corrupt.
He added that the government has opened up anonymous hotlines for citizens to report the cartels, but people are too scared to use them.
"The drug cartels find out who is calling and you're finding people in their trunks, dead," Mr. Spector said.
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