Juno News - January 23, 2019


BREAKING： Alleged human smuggler charged for organizing illegal border crossing into Canada


Episode Stats

Length

1 minute

Words per Minute

160.06186

Word Count

276

Sentence Count

12


Summary

As the crisis of illegal border crossing into Canada mounts, a release from the Canadian Border Services Agency suggests that not all of this crossing has been so innocent. CBSA has laid charges against Olayinka Celestina Opelai under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 As the crisis of illegal border crossing into Canada mounts, one of the big hot spots has emerged near Montalegi, Quebec, on Roxham Road.
00:00:09.160 And in this, we've seen a number of people claim asylum in violation of the spirit of the Safe Third Country Act.
00:00:15.940 Now, despite what we hear from a lot of people who support the Liberal government's approach on this has been that there are people genuinely in need of asylum seeking safe refuge.
00:00:25.640 Well, a release that just broke today from the Canadian Border Services Agency suggests that not all of this crossing has been so innocent.
00:00:35.240 CBSA has laid charges against Olayinka Celestina Opelai under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
00:00:42.860 CBSA alleges that she was organizing illegal entry into Canada in exchange for compensation.
00:00:49.140 CBSA said in a statement,
00:00:52.140 When it comes to irregular migration, the CBSA works in close cooperation with other government departments and agencies,
00:00:59.480 as well as international partners to uphold the integrity of the border crossing process and to ensure the border is safe and secure.
00:01:06.920 But the department also alleges that in the summer of 2017, the accused organized the illegal entry of several individuals,
00:01:16.140 smuggling them across the border, not just as an individual, but as part of a network of smugglers,
00:01:22.280 organizing travel for people in exchange for compensation.
00:01:26.320 This is breaking.
00:01:27.340 We don't have a lot of details about the specifics of it,
00:01:30.060 but suffice it to say it challenges the narrative that there was no orchestrated effort to manipulate Canada's borders and Canada's immigration and asylum system.
00:01:40.400 We'll have more on this soon.
00:01:41.920 For True North, I'm Andrew Lutton.