WikiLeaks cable: U.S. might be gateway for illegal immigrants in to Canada
Posted May 1, 2011 05:27:07 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER – A leaked American diplomatic note is disputing the long-held notion by some U.S. politicians that Canada is a gateway for illegal immigrants.
A cable released last week by online whistleblower WikiLeaks suggests the gate may actually swing the other way.
The cable written by an American diplomat in Vancouver says immigrants are living illegally for several years in the U.S., then crossing into Canada.
Phillip Chicola wrote to the White House last year that immigrants show up in Canada with new passports and different names to cover up previous orders of removal or unlawful presence in the U.S.
An immigration expert and economics professor at B.C.’s Simon Fraser University says job loss is often one of the reasons.
Don DeVoretz says having a job is often a requirement for immigrants to stay in the U.S.
He says that after losing jobs some immigrants had to leave the U.S. — and decided to try their luck in Canada.
