Almost half of Canadians want illegal border crossers deported, poll suggests

Nearly halfof Canadians want to deport people who are illegally crossinginto Canada from the United States, and a similar numberdisapprove of how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is handling the influx, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released onMonday.

A significant minority, four out of 10 respondents, said the border crossers could make Canada "less safe," underlining thepotential political risk for Trudeau's Liberal government.

The increasing flow of hundreds of asylum-seekers of Africanand Middle Eastern origin from the United States in recent months has become a contentious issue in Canada.

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There has been broad bipartisan support for high levels of legal immigration for decades in Canada. But Trudeau has comeunder pressure over the flow of the illegal migrants.

He isquestioned about it every time he appears in Parliament, fromopponents on the left, who want more asylum-seekers to beallowed in, and critics on the right, who say the migrants posea potential security risk.

Canadians appeared to be just as concerned about illegalimmigration as their American neighbours, according to the poll,which was conducted between March 8-9. Some 48 per cent of Canadians said they supported "increasing the deportation ofpeople living in Canada illegally."

• Here is how Canadians view illegal migrants, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll

When asked specifically about the recent border crossingsfrom the United States, the same number 48 per cent saidCanada should "send these migrants back to the U.S." Another 36per cent said Canada should "accept these migrants"and let them seek refugee status.

Refugees are much more welcomed when we have gone andselected them ourselves as a country, as opposed torefugees whohave chosen us.- JanetDench, Canadian Council for Refugees

In the United States, where President Donald Trump waselected partly on his promise to boost deportations, 50 per cent of adults supported "increasing the deportationof illegal immigrants," according to a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll that wasconducted during the same week in the United States.

Illegal migrants interviewed by Reuters in Canada said theyhad been living legally in the United States and had applied forasylum there. But they had fled to Canada for fear of being caught up in Trump's immigration crackdown.

Kellie Leitch, a prominent contender to be leader of theofficial opposition right-leaning Conservative Party, said the opinion poll results reinforced her belief that Canadians didnot want Ottawa to accept the asylum-seekers.

"I am happy to see that my position on illegal bordercrossers ... has support from the public," she said in an email.

Warming weather poses risk

In the poll, support for deporting the border crossers wasstrongest among men, adults who do not have a college degree,people who are older and those with higher levels of income.

"There are so many people in the world who want to come inand go through the right channels," said Greg Janzen, the reeve of Emerson, a Manitoba town near the U.S. border, which has seen hundreds of border crossers.

"That's what's pissing most people off.These guys are jumping the border," he said.

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Forty-six per cent of Canadians feel the influx would have noeffect on safety, while 41 per cent said it would make Canadaless safe, according to the poll.

"Refugees are much more welcomed when we have gone andselected them ourselves as a country, as opposed to refugees whohave chosen us," said Janet Dench, executive director ofCanadian Council for Refugees.

Of those polled, 46 per centdisagreed with how Trudeau washandling the situation, 37 per cent agreed, while 17 per cent didnot know. In January, a separate Ipsos poll found that 59per cent of Canadians approved of Trudeau, while 41 per cent disapproved.

Trudeau faces no immediate threat, since the next electionsare not until 2019. Trudeau's office declined to comment on thepoll.

Brian Lee Crowley, head of the Macdonald-Laurier Institutepublic policy think-tank, said the number of illegal migrants could spike as the weather warms, and "if people becomeconvinced there's a large uncontrolled flow of illegal immigrants, I think that will be a very serious political issuefor the government."

Canadian authorities dismiss the idea they are being lax.

Dan Brien, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister RalphGoodale, said "trying to slip across the border in an irregular manner is not a 'free' ticket to Canada," noting that allasylum-seekers were detained.

"If they are found to be inadmissible without a valid claim,deportation procedures are begun," he saidwhen asked about thepoll.

Those who cannot be identified, are a flight risk or posea public danger can be detained, he added.

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According to a separate Ipsos poll in Canada, 23 per cent ofCanadians listed immigration control as among the top nationalissues in March, up from 17 per cent in December. It ranks behind healthcare, taxes, unemployment and poverty as top concerns.

The Canadian government set an immigration target of 300,000for 2017, or just under oneper cent of the population, the samelevel as 2016. It reduced the 2017 target for resettled refugeesto 25,000 from 44,800 in 2016, a year when it welcomed 25,000refugees from Syria.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English andFrench throughout Canada. It included responses from 1,001people who were at least 18 years old. Individual responses were weighted according to the latest population estimates in Canada,so that the results reflect the entire population.

The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy,of fourpercentage points.

• Read full coverage of refugees crossing the U.S. border into Manitoba