UPDATE: Asylum-seeker arrives in Queenston; border agency explains what happens next

When Janet Zylstra, RiverBrink Art Museum’s administrator, fellow staff members, volunteers and vendors arrived at the Queenston Street facility at 7 a.m. Saturday to set up for their first ever juried art show and sale, they received a big surprise. 

“When we got there, a gentleman approached us on-site,” Zylstra told The Local that morning. “He was saying ‘I’m here, I’m seeking asylum. Could you please call the authorities for me?’ So we did.” 

Zylstra says the man, described as tall and lean, Caucasian with blue eyes, appeared cold and a little but shaken. He told her he had made the dangerous journey across the Niagara River on a raft of some sort, though she was not sure where that raft was or at what point he came to shore.

“We got him a seat, a blanket and some coffee,” Zylstra said. “While we were waiting for the authorities to arrive he told us that he had had a lot of struggles in the States, that he didn’t feel that he was being supported through their judicial system, and that was why he was coming to Canada.”

Zylstra said he didn’t seem agitated or overly distressed, but wondered if he had some kind of mental instability. 

She teared up often while describing the situation. 

“It’s hard to see someone displaced because they don’t feel supported by their country or their community,” she said. “I think it would be a pretty death-defying trip to cross the Niagara River. It may look calm out there, but I know it’s not. It’s sad to think that someone feels they have to go to those extremes to find what they feel to be safety, or asylum.”

When The Local arrived at RiverBrink Saturday morning at about 10 a.m., the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were still on site. Shortly after that, their SUV pulled out of the parking area, presumably with the asylum-seeker in the vehicle. 

The Local followed up with both the Niagara Regional Police and the RCMP. 

Stephanie Sabourin from the NRP replied to an email from The Local, said that because the situation was not a police matter, and no arrest was made, any further information would come from the RCMP.

Constable Christy Veenstra of the RCMP’s media relations office then told The Local Tuesday afternoon that because the situation was an immigration matter, the asylum-seeker was turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency. 

In an email Thursday to The Local from Guillaume Bérubé, the border agency’s manager of media relations, he stated that the border agency does not comment or provide details on individual cases as that person’s  border and immigration information is considered protected by the Privacy Act. 

“It is illegal to enter between ports of entry, and it is not safe,” continued Bérubé. “We encourage asylum-seekers to cross the border at designated ports of entry. In Canada, border security and integrity is a shared mandate between the CBSA and the RCMP. The RCMP is responsible for enforcing Canadian legislation between ports of entry while the CBSA is responsible for enforcing the law at designated ports of entry in Canada.”

According to the email from Bérubé, when people crossing between ports of entry are intercepted by the RCMP or local police, they are brought to a designated port of entry. Once there, if the individual claims asylum, the border agency will then determine whether or not the claim is eligible under the Additional Protocol of the Safe Third Country Agreement  and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

If an individual does not meet an exception, or is otherwise determined ineligible, they will be removed to the U.S. If the refugee claim is eligible, the person's file will be referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board for consideration and the person will be authorized to enter Canada to pursue their claim for protection.  

The border agency will coordinate with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to ensure safe return of those being removed, including arranging for transportation as required.  

Statistics from the border agency show that between March 25 and June 11, there had been 673 decisions processed in cases of people crossing between designated ports of entry. Of those, 327 claimants have been returned to the U.S. and 271 were deemed eligible to make an asylum claim in Canada. There are currently 75 claimants being processed with a decision pending. One withdrew their application and voluntarily went back to the U.S.

Further, the majority of those illegal crossings during that time occurred in Quebec and the Pacific provinces. Only five occurred in the Southern Ontario Region, and all five were returned to the U.S. The border agency provided no information on specific border crossings in Niagara.