Asylum seekers found packed into U-Haul in Quebec deported to U.S.
At least some of the 44 migrants found near Stanstead have been removed to the U.S., the Canada Border Services Agency confirmed.
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At least some of the 44 asylum seekers found packed into a U-Haul the night of Aug. 2 have been deported to the United States, the Canada Border Services Agency has confirmed to The Gazette.
CBSA spokesperson Karine Martel declined to specify how many of the asylum seekers landed in U.S. custody, nor would she say whether any of the asylum seekers were allowed to stay in Canada and claim asylum.
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RCMP officers say the night of Aug. 2 they discovered the 44 migrants — who are mostly Haitian — near Stanstead, a community at the Vermont border south of Sherbrooke. The migrants were allegedly dropped off south of the border and told to walk into Canada, where smugglers driving a U-Haul moving truck picked them up. Police say they transferred the migrants into CBSA custody, at which point the CBSA says most were transported to the processing centre in St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, about 100 kilometres west.
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S., Canadian authorities can deport asylum claimants at the border back to the U.S., unless they’re unaccompanied minors or have family in Canada.
“All asylum claims linked to this incident have been processed,” Martel wrote in an email Wednesday evening. “All those who were deemed inadmissible have been removed to the United States.”
Asylum seekers returned to the U.S. under the Safe Third Country Agreement are typically sent into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention.
As of Aug. 5, the CBSA reports it had deported 2,766 asylum seekers to the U.S. this year for ineligibility under the agreement. Of those, 1,917 attempted to claim asylum at official ports of entry, while 849 entered Canada at unofficial crossings.
“When a person makes a claim for refugee protection at a port of entry, CBSA officers will conduct an examination — including a review — to determine if the claim is eligible for referral to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada,” Martel said. Those deemed ineligible to claim asylum are “generally removed to the United States that same day.”
While this year has seen a decrease in asylum claims across the country, claims at the St-Bernard-de-Lacolle crossing have increased significantly. By Aug. 4, 11,508 people — nearly half of the 23,467 who claimed asylum across the country this year — had made their claim at St-Bernard-de-Lacolle.
By that point in 2024, 5,225 people had claimed asylum at St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, while 42,150 had claimed asylum across the country.
In June, the CBSA says it installed 12 trailers at its St-Bernard-de-Lacolle facility to accommodate migrants undergoing immigration reviews. “The current migrant influx at the port of entry is well below our processing capacity and the trailers are currently unused,” CBSA spokesperson Guillaume Bérubé said in a statement.
The three suspected smugglers are facing charges and will remain detained until their next court hearing at the end of the month.
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