Canada has removed six out of 900 asylum seekers already facing U.S. deportation

OTTAWA — Newly released figures show Canadian officials have removed only a handful of the hundreds of irregular migrants who arrived in Canada while they were already facing deportation orders from the United States.

Numbers tabled recently in the House of Commons show nearly 900 irregular migrants intercepted by the Mounties in Canada since April 2017 were already under removal orders issued by American authorities.

As of late June, only six of these people had been removed from Canada.

Border Security Minister Bill Blair created some confusion over the weekend after he told Global News in an interview that the “overwhelming majority” of asylum seekers who have crossed irregularly into Canada over the last 21 months have left the country.

He later apologized in a Twitter post, saying his statement was incorrect and that the majority of asylum seekers remain in Canada awaiting the outcome of their refugee claims.

Since early 2017, more than 34,000 asylum seekers have crossed into Canada through unofficial points. To date, only a total of 398 — or about one per cent — have been removed.