Provencher MP Ted Falk says refugees crossing the border illegally at Emerson is not a new phenomenon. There has been considerable media attention in recent months to refugees crossing into Canada through fields near Emerson, sometimes in very cold weather. Some critics say the immigration policies of President Donald Trump are to blame. But Falk says this is something that has been going on for the past few years.

"If you go back and check the records for the last several years, the rate of that has been increasing. And there seems to be a knowledge and an understanding from a certain demographic, primarily from the Minneapolis area, that have been told that, if you want to come to Canada, you just need to get a taxi ride to a place like Pembina, North Dakota and then you need to walk across the field and then call 911 and then somebody will come and pick you up and bring you in the back door of Canada Customs."

The Canada Border Services Agency reports 403 refugees have illegally crossed into Canada since last March, usually at a rate of about 40 per month. In the previous fiscal year, 321 refugees crossed into the province illegally and 136 the year before that.

Falk says it's unfortunate that people are exploiting a loophole in Canada's immigration and refugee system.

"What's going right now is there's a gap in the system because, if they come around the Port of Entry through a farmer's field they're given immediate refugee status whereas, if they come to the Port of Entry directly, as everybody should, then they're informed as to what the procedure will be and what actions they need to take to claim refugee status. These are folks, primarily, who are not recent arrivals in the United States. They've lived in the United States most of their lives, they're mostly in their 20's and 30's and they come to the border because they've decided they want to live in Canada. So they claim refugee status even though I would question whether there really is any danger or fear for them in the situation where they are."

Numbers provided by Canada Border Services Agency: