Changes Friday: Refugee Status

changes friday: The changes will see dozens more Immigration and Refugee Board staff dedicated exclusively to processing irregular border-crossing claims, according to The Chronicle Herald. Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced the changes Friday, saying anyone coming into the country illegally from now on will have their cases finalized within 12 months. The arms-length board that handles refugee claims plans to speed up the handling of files from irregular border crossers like those seeking refugee status after crossing into Canada from the United States through unofficial forest paths. We believe it will send a very strong message to those who assume that coming to Canada through irregular means will result in them waiting for a long period of time, for years, in Canada and then forming an attachment here. The refugee board has been wrestling with a massive influx of files over the last year as a surge of irregular migrants those who cross the border at non-official ports of entry continue to enter Canada. That's not going to happen, Hussen said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.