Quebec border sees asylum claims double between March and April [Video]

Asylum claims doubled at a Quebec border crossing in April as the Trump administration seeks to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of migrants in the United States.

There were 2,733 asylum claims last month at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle port of entry, south of Montreal. That’s up from 1,356 claims in March and 755 in February, according to data from the Canada Border Services Agency. 

The April total represents a fourfold increase over the same month last year, when there were 670 asylum claims at the Quebec border crossing. The numbers run counter to the trend in refugee claims across Canada, which have declined dramatically since last year. 

“To address this situation, additional resources have been put in place to ensure safe and secure border management,” said Guillaume Bérubé, a spokesperson for the border agency, in an email. He mentioned the agency has been working to lease a new space …