A spike in migrants seeking asylum at unofficial border crossings is putting a strain on Canada, a country that prides itself on the welcome mat for people seeking a better life, The Wall Street Journal reported.
However, where its geography once allowed it to cherry pick the best of the best, the flood of migrants choosing to get arrested at unofficial border crossings at the hope of asylum is presenting a different challenge - greater numbers of migrants without federal funds to handle the surge, the Journal reports.
"It forces Canadians, who have always patted themselves on the back for being very open to immigration, very welcoming, to deal with the kinds of challenges Italy, Greece and others have been facing and to realize it's not so easy," Irene Bloemraad, chair of Canadian studies at University of California, Berkeley, told the Journal.
Nearly 3,000 migrants crossed at an unofficial border into Canada in April; 8,500 asylum-seekers last summer crammed through similar crossings, creating a backlog of 53,000 cases, the newspaper reported.
The migrants are mostly Nigerian, the Journal reports.
Migrants arrested at the crossings are bused to Montreal where they await their fate at shelters, the Journal reports.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.