Canada intercepts people trying to cross border in ‘incredibly cold’ conditions

Nine Venezuelans including children found by police in Alberta with a second group apprehended in Manitoba

More than a dozen people have been caught making the hazardous crossing into Canada, renewing focus on the closely watched – and seasonally perilous – border with the United States.

Police in Alberta this week intercepted two groups attempting to cross into Canada illegally, including one which included five children who were ill-prepared for the cold which can plunge as low as -30C (-22F) at this time of year.

Assistant Commissioner Lisa Moreland told reporters in Edmonton that nine people from Venezuela were found trudging through the snow and dragging suitcases. The group was bound for Alberta and made the journey in “incredibly cold” weather. A second group, composed of six adults from Jordan, Sudan, Chad and Mauritius, was found in a forest near Manitoba’s border with the US after an RCMP plane using thermal cameras detected them. Neither group had clothing suitable for the frigid conditions.

have been] incidents where people did not make it.”

Underscoring the deadly realities of the northern border in the winter, a man extradited from Canada was arraigned in New York state on human smuggling charges on Thursday over the death of a 33-year-old pregnant woman from Mexico. Searchers found footprints in the snow leading to a New York river, where Ana Vasquez-Flores drowned in December 2023.

Ever since he was elected, Donald Trump has turned his focus to Canada’s border with the United States, alleging it is the source of vast amounts of fentanyl and illegal migration – neither of which is borne out by evidence.

US Customs and Border Protection says 23,721 people were apprehended last fiscal year crossing its northern border, up from the 2,238 caught two years prior. But border agents made 1.5 million apprehensions at the border with Mexico last year.

Still, to appease the president, Canada’s federal government has promised Trump C$1.3bn (US$900m) in spending along the border, including two Black Hawk helicopters and drones. Provincial premiers have also committed new resources. Earlier this year, Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, said her province would create a new sheriff patrol unit, with 50 armed sheriffs, 10 cold weather surveillance drones and several drug detection dogs at a cost of C$29m.

Moreland said police were “doing our part to secure the border” but none of the apprehensions are linked to new border efforts.

Trump’s victory last year – and a promise to enact the country’s largest mass deportation – initially prompted concern among political leaders in Canada that the country could experience a surge of immigrants fleeing north and crossing unpatrolled areas of the 5,500-mile border – as happened during Trump’s first term.

“What we saw in the days and weeks after Trump won was fearmongering,” said Abdulla Daoud of the Refugee Centre in Montreal. “And none of that – the idea that hundreds of thousands would come to the border – has ever come to fruition.”

During Trump’s first term in office, tens of thousands of Haitians fled to Canada after the president ended temporary protected status for the group.

In January 2017, Trudeau posted on social media: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”