Canada issues arrest warrants for hundreds of dangerous foreign nationals

Federal authorities in Canada issued arrest warrants for three hundred foreign criminals deemed to be a danger to the public according to reporting from The Globe and Mail. 

The news went somewhat under the radar but questions about how worried Canadians should be still remain. So how worried should you be and just how bad is the situation? 

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The Canadian Border Service Agency warned that these criminals face deportation from the country and include sexual offenders and those convicted of violent crimes. 

The Globe and Mail reported border agents are trying to track down over 37,000 foreign nationals they considered to be flight risks, would like to question, or pose a public risk. 

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These figures were given to The Globe and Mail by the Canada Border Service Agency and lend credence to the idea the agency has lost track of all those facing deportation.  

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In 2020, Canada’s Auditor General Karen Hogan published a scathing report that found the border agency lost track of thousands of foreign nationals ordered to leave Canada. 

Screenshot from Twitter @OAG_BVG

Hogan’s office examined every case in the Canada Border Agency’s system through to April 2019 and found that a shocking number of foreign nationals hadn't been deported. 

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Roughly 50,000 enforceable cases had piled up, the auditor general’s report said, according to CBC News and border agents didn't know the location of more than half of them. 

"In two-thirds [34,700] of these cases, the agency did not know the whereabouts of the individuals,” the report noted, adding that most of these “cases had been enforceable for several years.”

CBC News reported that the auditor general found the country’s average criminal case went unresolved for upwards of a decade but fell short of noting whether the crimes that were committed happened while awaiting deportation. 

More than three years on from that report, it seems the Canada Border Service Agency is still suffering from a major backlog of active and unresolved deportation cases. 

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The Canada Border Service Agency told The Globe and Mail August had 33,032 active immigration arrest warrants issued to remove people from the country while the total of active arrest warrants issued for immigration reasons was 37,326. 

“Removing individuals who are inadmissible for criminality is of paramount importance,” Canada Border Service Agency spokesperson Guillaume Bérubé said in a statement.

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Bérubé also explained an individual’s danger to the public or their possible flight risk are the factors considered when looking at the arrest and detention of any foreign national.

“These may include some of the following: association with a criminal organization, engagement in trafficking or smuggling of persons, convictions for sexual offences or offences involving weapons or violence, trafficking in narcotics, etc.,” Bérubé added. 

Data from the Canada Border Service Agency on its website shows that the government agency detained 3,056 foreign nationals or permanent residents in the 2022 fiscal year. 

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