Posted on 11/04/2007 2:46:42 PM PST by sinanju
With city shelters filled and a surge of further refugee claimants expected to flood into Windsor, Mayor Eddie Francis is pleading for financial help from Ottawa.
"When there is a possibility of adding thousands to the local social assistance system as a result of refugee claimants crossing the border into Windsor, we will become overwhelmed and our current resources will not suffice," Francis wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Over the past three weeks, 45 families and 31 individuals -- approximately 200 people -- entered Canada at the Detroit River crossings and applied in Windsor for shelter and social assistance after filing refugee claims with the Canada Border Services Agency. Municipal agencies dealing with the sudden influx of mainly Mexican refugee applicants are renting out hotel rooms and bracing for predicted thousands more to come.
"We don't have the means, ability or capacity to deal with this additional cost. We are not able to deal with this potential crisis locally," Francis wrote Harper.
"I don't believe that Windsor's residents and taxpayers should have to foot the bill for U.S. immigration policy," Francis told The Star. He was referring to the suspected source of the problem -- a recently begun crackdown on illegal immigrants in economically struggling regions of the U.S. South.
(Excerpt) Read more at canada.com ...
This is not a "Canadian bureaucrat" talking, he is the mayor, an elected official. To boot, he is the decendant of immigrants from Lebanon. He is very successful and is at home in the "real world".
As for his criticism of US immigration policies, well, don't you agree with him?
Funny enough, the Ambassador Bridge did have a “walking lane” that was used for years. Too many suicide attempts forced its closure.
No, thanks, we have enough “legitimate” refugees.
Hey, we’ve already woken up. We are about to have an election that will see a majority convervative government. I would like you to be able to make the same boast.
I refer to it as the Bird-Feeder Problem. If you have too many birds, you don't solve the problem by putting out more food and more feeders. You put out less food and less feeders. None, if you really want to discourage the feathered mendicants.
This Canadian is following policies which encourage Mexicans to some all the way from Florida to go on the Canadian dole. That leads to the conclusion that Canadian laws are even worse than the American ones on illegal immigration. And that's what I said, and stand by.
Congressman Billybob
Show ‘em how liberal you are Canada!
How about Mexico's immigration policies? That's where the problem is coming from and through. Remember, Canada, Mexico and the USA are going to be all one big happy family.
Yeah try millions like in CA....and they think 200 is a drain... geez they don't know how fortunate they are....
20 million is a drain!
I wish you well in your attempt at becoming a bureaucrat yourself, FRiend.
This is the MAYOR (an ELECTED OFFICIAL, like YOU aspire to be, right?) of a town being inundated with illegals asking for help before his resources are overwhelmed.
He’s being responsible and calling out for aid BEFORE a crisis happens, unlike NOLA.
I honestly thought you were smarter than what you just showed us.
John / Billybob
That’s the reason he’s asking the upper levels of gov’t for help.
The problem is NOT our immigration standards, but the abuse of the refugee criteria by the coyotes in FLA. sending this detritus up here.
His Worship the Mayor is asking the levels of government that actually HAVE jurisdiction over refugee standards to act quickly to plug this gaping hole.
Don’t forget that in the last 40 years, 35 have been either Liberals or Liberal light. We FINALLY have adults in charge up here (22 months and counting), so try and cut a bit of slack, willya?
What an enterprise..., charge them $500-$1,000/head to smuggle them into the USA..., now $300-400/head to ship them to Canada!
I’ll get them to the North Pole for $200 each.
I fault the CBSA for this mess- Canada and the US have a “safe third country” agreement in place which means that a refugee arriving from a third country can be turned back at the border; the only Mexican “refugees” entitled to a hearing under Canadian law are those arriving directly from Mexico, so they should have been turned back.
The Haitians are running to Canada simply because the Mayan Indians from Guatemala are now willing to do the landscaping in South Florida for $1 and hour versus the $3 the Haitians were used to getting. ;-)
“The problem is NOT our immigration standards, but the abuse of the refugee criteria by the coyotes in FLA. sending this detritus up here.”
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What pricked up my ears is the news that FL is now getting tough with illegals but this particular influx all appears to be the work of one haitian coyote who is fleecing Miami Mexicans out of $400 a head to provide them with Canadian refugee applications, then shipping them out after telling them that canuck streets were paved with gold.
I guess the Miami Cubans have never forgiven Mexico for sheltering Fidel when he was an exile...
Eddie Francis is the mayor of Windsor. He does not set immigration policy. He does not set welfare policy. He knows about your "bird feeder" analogy. He is simply trying to deal with the result of bad policies set by other people at senior levels of government.
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