By Rob Gillies -
The Associated Press
The Government of Canada is reimposing some visa requirements on Mexican citizens visiting Canada, an official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press news agency on Wednesday.
Quebec's premier has been urging the federal government to stem the influx of refugees, which he said has been putting a strain on resources.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak before the official announcement.
He indicated the new rules
will come into effect late Thursday
and will not be a complete return to pre-2016 regulations. Canada's immigration minister is expected to announce details.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer gives instructions to two migrants after they illegally crossed from Champlain, New York, into Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, on February 28, 2024. Associated Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government lifted the visa requirement for Mexican visitors in late 2016, removing a major hurdle in relations between the two countries.
But Canadian Immigration Minister Mac Miller has said asylum applications from Mexico have skyrocketed since Canada lifted the visa restriction in 2016. The elimination of the visa waiver for Mexico is also expected to reduce the number of illegal crossings of Mexicans into the United States from Canada.
In 2023, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
had 17,490 applications from Mexico
, representing 19% of all requests that year.
In 2022, the figure was 7,483, which represented 12% of applications.
Previously, Montreal refugee service providers have stated that Mexican families are fleeing violence, insecurity and lack of employment in Mexico.
Canada only grants asylum to people it believes cannot live safely anywhere in their country of origin, because the authorities are unable or unwilling to provide them with those conditions.
During his daily press conference Wednesday morning, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador suggested that Canada was going to announce action when responding to a reporter's question about possible U.S. tariffs on steel exports. Mexican, and complained about the
lack of respect shown by Mexico's North American neighbors
.
The president said that "conservative" forces in Mexico had been pressuring the United States and Canada to take measures that would harm his Administration.
He cited U.S. complaints about fentanyl production in Mexico and claims by both the United States and Canada that Mexico was not doing its part to control migration flows.
"The immigration issue is Mexico's fault," López Obrador scoffed.
"We are going to build a wall and that is how we are going to solve the problem. We are going to militarize the border and that is how we are going to solve the problem."
"And now Canada is doing the same thing, they are wanting to take action against Mexico; we are very sorry for that," López Obrador said.
"They are negotiating to reach an agreement, so that we can control migratory flows to Canada, as we have always done. And we have acted generously with them, with the administration of Prime Minister Trudeau, but they were already on the verge of imposing unilateral measures, just now that there are elections in Mexico."
López Obrador
also raised the possibility of him not attending the North American Leaders Summit
, scheduled for April in Quebec.
"If there is no respectful treatment, I do not participate," he said.