Canada announced this Thursday that it will once again require visas from Mexicans who want to enter its territory due to an explosion of asylum requests. The decision is rejected by the Mexican government, which analyzes actions “in reciprocity.”
“Mexican citizens must obtain a visa to come to Canada from now on,” Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced at a press conference. He said the measure seeks to preserve “the viability of the asylum and immigration system.”
Canada had withdrawn the visa requirement for Mexicans in December 2016.
Some exemptions will apply: Mexican citizens traveling to Canada will be able to request a simple electronic travel authorization if they have had a Canadian visa in the last decade or if they have a valid US visa.
According to the Canadian government, Mexicans accounted for 17% of all asylum applications in 2023. Most were rejected or withdrawn by applicants.
“Applications that have no chance of success put pressure on the system and the social benefits these people receive,” Minister Miller said. “This has an impact on the entire system.”
“Canada”:
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Mexico evaluates response
In response, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said that “it considers that there were other options before reaching the application of this measure.”
The Mexican government “reserves, of course, the power to act in reciprocity,” the organization added in a note.
Hours before, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, launched a “small, fraternal, respectful reproach to the prime minister” of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
“We are going to look for options, alternatives, we cannot break relations with Canada, nor with other governments, because the economic exchange is very good,” said the leftist president, without giving details.
Breaking point
Trudeau’s Liberal government has been under pressure for weeks over its immigration policy. Several provinces, responsible for health and education, say they are having difficulty maintaining current population growth, which is entirely due to migration.
Quebec, in particular, has been criticizing the federal government for weeks. Its prime minister, François Legault, believes that the province has reached a breaking point in terms of immigration and is overwhelmed by asylum applications.
According to Miller, relations between Canada and the United States have also led Ottawa to take action. “We have seen how several asylum seekers crossed into the United States,” explained the minister.
And this flow, “although minimal” compared to that of the southern border of the United States with Mexico, “has increased dramatically in the last two years,” he added. “And that’s something we have to deal with as a partner of the United States.”
The Canadian visa requirement for Mexicans was imposed by the previous Conservative government in 2009. This was to stop a similar increase at that time, but the measure was lifted in 2016 after Trudeau came to power.
«We attach great importance to our close ties with Mexico. “Mexico is and will continue to be an important partner,” Miller insisted, acknowledging that the Mexican government had already expressed its discontent.
Last year, Canada’s population surpassed the 40 million mark due in part to migration.
The country plans to welcome half a million migrants again in 2024.
The entry Canada will reimpose visas on Mexico, which is studying applying reciprocity was first published in EL NACIONAL.