Somali refugee arrested at U.S. border
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Adrian Humphreys, National Post
A Somali refugee living in Canada has been arrested at the United States border, accused of using false documents to enter America just 10 days before he was supposed to appear in a Canadian courtroom on drug charges.
"It appears that [Keise Mahamud] Mohamed may have been fleeing Canada in an attempt to avoid prosecution," said Kevin Corsaro, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Mr. Mohamed, 20, was one of six Somali nationals travelling in a van from Canada to the United States when it stopped for inspection on the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge border in Niagara Falls, according to authorities. The group said they had been attending a family wedding in Toronto and were now returning to their homes in St. Paul, Minn.
The van was sent for secondary inspection and border agents found that the fingerprints of one man did not match the prints on file for the U.S. permanent resident card that he had presented to border guards. He later admitted to border agents that he was not the man named on the card but, rather, was Mr. Mohamed, according to authorities. The remaining occupants of the van passed inspection and continued on their journey.
"He was not co-operative with us as to how he got the documents," said Mr. Corsaro.
"The record checks also revealed that Mohamed has an extensive criminal history in Canada and is currently under indictment for trafficking cocaine."
Now charged with making false statements and misusing an identity document and detained at the Federal Detention Center in Batavia pending prosecution in New York, Mr. Mohamed may have a hard time making his scheduled April 2 court appearance in St. Catharines, Ont.
In January, Niagara Regional Police arrested Mr. Mohamed and three others after an undercover officer with the force's Morality Unit posed as a drug buyer in a sting operation.
In that incident, police found an estimated $800 worth of crack cocaine, a significant amount of Canadian currency, cellular telephones and a scale inside a car and charged Mr. Mohamed with trafficking cocaine, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000.
He was released on bail on Jan. 21 pending trial.
"Niagara police have concerns if this person was attempting to flee the country when he has charges pending here," said Constable Jacquie Forgeron, a spokeswoman with Niagara police.
"We will work with the U.S. Attorney's office to look into this situation to coordinate a return of the accused to Canada to stand before our justice department," she said.
The border arrest comes as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported an increase in the number of refugees from Afghanistan, Somalia and other countries in turmoil to industrialized countries; the UN report showed a 30% increase in the number of people seeking asylum in Canada.
"Canada has witnessed a steady increase in new asylum seekers in the past years, and in 2008 was the second-largest recipient of applications," says the report. "On average, every 10th application in the industrialized world was made in Canada."
On Tuesday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the report suggests "wide-scale and almost systematic abuse" of Canada's refugee system.
"This is clearly an abuse of Canada's generosity," Mr. Kenney said. "It is a violation of the integrity of our immigration system."
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