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Illegal Immigrants Travel To Canada Seeking Asylum

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By MONICA DAVEY and ABBY GOODNOUGH, The New York Times

Published: September 21, 2007

WINDSOR, Ontario - Fleeing stepped-up sweeps by the U.S. authorities, illegal immigrants to the United States, mostly Mexican, are arriving in growing numbers at the foot of the bridge in this Canadian border town seeking refugee status.

Still more immigrants, mostly Mexicans who had been living illegally in Florida, have begun trying to make their way past America's northern border at other locations, the majority of them flying into the airport in Toronto, Canadian officials said Thursday.

The arrivals began suddenly three weeks ago, just a family or two at first, fueled by the notion - largely unfounded, authorities here say - that Canada would grant them asylum.

The journey, some of the immigrants said, first was suggested by the Jerusalem Haitian Community Center in Naples, which charged a fee for assisting with the required paperwork. The idea has spread on the Internet and through social networks.

By Thursday, at least 200 people had turned up here, across the border from Detroit, with as much of their lives as they could shove into suitcases, boxes and garbage bags in their cars. Thousands more, refugee advocates and Canadian officials say, may be on their way.

Advocates for immigrants issued urgent warnings to Mexicans pondering similar journeys, and expressed fury at groups that were encouraging them.

In truth, refugee status for Mexican citizens is relatively unusual in Canada. Only 28 percent of such claims by Mexicans were approved in Canada last year, compared with 47 percent of claims from all nationalities.

'It's an outrage that money is being taken to provide false information and dangerous information to these people,' said Rivka Augenfeld of the Canadian Council for Refugees, a nonprofit umbrella organization focused on the rights and protection of refugees. 'This idea is just out there and growing.'

Many of the families who drove here said they had learned about the possibility of fleeing to Canada from the Naples organization, which promoted 'Information required for Canadian Refugee Status Application' on its Web site.

The group, some refugees said, collected $400 for adults and $100 for children and assured them that there would be jobs and shelter.

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