Federal Government: Mexico

Israel Dept: The addition Thursday, which takes effect immediately, brings to 35 the number of countries now on the list, according to Montreal Gazette. The Israel designation does not include Gaza and the West Bank and oTTAWA The federal government has added Mexico, Israel and six other countries to the list of so-called safe nations Canada has deemed unlikely to produce legitimate asylum claimants. Mexican officials have been asking for the designation for some time. They hope it will be a precursor to Canada finally dropping the visa requirement it imposed on Mexican visitors in 2009 after asylum claims tripled from 2005. Mexico had become the top source for asylum claims, many of which were ultimately found to be false. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.