Romanians Smuggling Gypsies into U.S. from Mexico to get them to Canada
Canada Targets Romanians Smuggling Gypsies
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By By ROB GILLIES Associated Press
TORONTO December 5, 2012 (AP)
Canadian immigration officials believe a Romanian smuggling ring has been bringing Gypsies into the U.S. through Mexico in order for them to eventually gain asylum in Canada.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Wednesday that 85 people, including 35 children, who arrived in Canada since February have now been classified as "irregular arrivals," which means they can't apply for permanent residence status for at least five years.
"Quite frankly we really haven't seen anything like this in our immigration system before. People from Europe that go to Mexico, that go through the U.S. to come to Canada and then go to Toronto where many of them got involved in criminal activity," Kenney said at a news conference in Stanstead, Quebec, a town that borders Vermont.
Thirty of the irregular arrivals have been arrested under newly enacted immigration laws that allow for the mandatory detention of those suspected to have arrived in Canada via smugglers, Kenney said.
Over the past year, cars loaded with ethnic Roma asylum seekers have run the border between Derby Line, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec. The border crossing was previously all-but-non-existent before 9/11. The once-open streets between Vermont and Quebec have now have become the preferred route into Canada for refugees who carry Romanian passports. Only recently has Canada beefed up security in Stanstead.
Kenney declined to identify their ethnicity but said the groups of Romanian nationals illegally crossed into Canada between February and October.
Kenney said the Romanians would typically spend a few days in Mexico before illegally crossing the U.S. border and then driving north into Quebec, where police would typically hold them until they requested asylum and would be released.
He said many of the Romanians went to Toronto and some to Montreal. Canadian officials said many arrived in indebted to a criminal organization and in some cases engaged in crime to pay back the smuggling debts. Twelve have been charged in unrelated crimes since arriving in Canada.
Kenney noted that Canada has one of the most generous immigration systems in the world but said they won't tolerate those who abuse that generosity or cheat the system to jump the queue.
"We are sending a strong message to those who are thinking of using the services of criminal human smugglers to sneak their way into Canada - don't do it," Kenney said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in California have noticed a spike in Romanian border crossers.
"You don't normally find people from Romania crossing in El Centro," said ICE San Diego spokesman Lauren Mack. The agents apprehending them know they are dealing with gypsies. "We have noticed and are aware of an increase in the number of Roma who are being smuggled into the United States and are concerned about it."
Mack said they are also aware the Romanians are headed to Canada.
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