Refugees Trek to Canada as U.S. Tightens Rules on Immigration

Spike in illegal border crossings by asylum seekers reported despite winter weather.

More asylum seekers are crossing illegally into Canada from the U.S., many trekking across snow-covered fields along unguarded stretches of the border, in the wake of the Trump administration’s push to tighten immigration rules.

At least 450 people crossed illegally in January and February, despite bitter cold that usually discourages such traffic, government officials said Thursday. In all of last year, the total was 2,400.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the sparsely populated, central province of Manitoba said that as of Monday, 143 people had made their way over the border there. That is roughly a third of last year’s total for the province and nearly 60% of 2015.

“No one comes here in the winter. Period. So this is very unprecedented,” said Bashir Khan, an immigration lawyer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He said two clients from Ghana who arrived from the U.S. had to have fingers amputated after sustaining severe frostbite.

Police in Quebec, which borders four northeastern U.S. states, have also reported an increase in illegal entries.

Such cases are boosting Canada’s total refugee claims, which surged to 3,979 this year as of Feb. 21, compared with 2,531 in the same period a year ago, according to the Canadian Border Services Agency.

The numbers are still small compared with, for example, the millions of Syrian refugees who entered such countries as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Canada’s government, which has accepted more than 40,000 Syrian refugees since late 2015, has so far adopted a cautious approach to the rise in illegal border crossings, saying it is monitoring the situation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sought to differentiate his country from the debate in the U.S., stressing a message of diversity and inclusiveness.

But continued tension over immigration in the U.S. coupled with warmer weather could lead to an escalation in numbers, putting pressure on his government to act. That could raise tensions

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