A tweet from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcoming any and all asylum seekers to Canada was revealed to have caused havoc within the government, according to newly released documents.
Prime Minister Trudeau made his “refugees welcome” tweet in January of 2017, writing: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” which spurred a flurry of inquiries and led to confusion within the government, the National Post reports.
In emails obtained by the National Post, an official from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada agency warned colleagues to expect a flood of new requests and inquiries for asylum.
One reply from Canada’s embassy in Mexico asked: “Guidance required on how to respond to increasing number of refugee enquiries in the region following change in US administration and Prime Minister’s tweet.”
An official at the embassy also wrote: “I am seeking official guidance/response from Ottawa on how to address refugee enquiries following all the publicity around the US ban on some nationalities, and our Prime Minister’s tweet on welcoming refugees.”
“We are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from the public about requesting refugee status in Canada, and a number clearly having links with our Prime Minister’s tweet this weekend.
“A significant number of the enquiries received since the weekend have been from nationals of the ‘US banned countries’, but we are also receiving them from all nationalities, both through emails and directly at our reception,” they added.
Since the tweet, the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border, particularly Haitians into the French-speaking province of Quebec, has exploded. The influx has seen tens of thousands of illegals cross the border, including some caught possessing child pornography.
As a result of the number of illegal migrants seeking asylum, the city of Montreal was forced to convert part of the Olympic stadium into a shelter for asylum seekers.
The mass migration into Quebec has shown little signs of stopping as Quebec broadcaster Le Canal Nouvelles reported this week that at least 500 asylum seekers came across the border with the United States over Easter weekend alone.
The province has so far been forced to spend a million dollars to set up emergency shelters since last Autumn to handle the numbers of migrants before they can be sent to an asylum centre in Montreal.