MICHELLE Rempel, Conservative critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, in response to new immigration statistics released by the Trudeau government, said on Wednesday: “We have now learned that over 65% of illegal border crossers from 2017-18 had legal status in the United States before illegally entering into Canada. It is truly mind-boggling that [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau would choose to prioritize these individuals over persons fleeing ISIS or Rohingya refugees undergoing genocide.”

Rempel noted: “Instead of closing the loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement or making concrete policy decisions to deal with the influx of illegal border crossers, the Prime Minister has instead chosen to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on band-aid solutions.

“Justin Trudeau has completely mismanaged our immigration system and has failed to offer a pathway to Canada for the world’s most vulnerable. It is long past time that the Trudeau Liberals come up with a plan to fix this mess.

“Canada’s Conservatives will continue to hold the government to account for their complete failure to maintain the integrity of our immigration system and prioritize the worlds most vulnerable to come to Canada. Unlike Justin Trudeau, we will continue to propose real solutions to this crisis that would restore integrity and compassion to our system.”