Motorists wait at U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection booths at the Peace Arch border crossing in Blaine, Wash., in November, 2021.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
A Jordanian terror suspect was deported two weeks ago by the U.S. after crossing illegally from Canada where he was on the run from Canadian border officers.
Mohammad Hasan Abdellatif Albana had slipped across the border to Canada from the United States in 2017 and then claimed asylum in an effort to stay. When he crossed the border back into the U.S. illegally, he was being sought by Canadian border agents after his appeals to remain in the country as a refugee had failed.
President-elect Donald Trump has raised the stakes over border security in recent months demanding that Canada stop people, including terrorists, crossing illegally into the U.S. from Canada.
He threatened to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on imports from Canada unless the country does more to shore up border security, prompting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fly to Florida to discuss the problem with him personally over dinner on Friday.
U.S. border patrol officers arrested Mr. Albana near Lynden, Wash. The U.S. authorities deported him to Jordan on Nov. 15, alleging he had ties to terrorism.
The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Mr. Albana was facing deportation when he illegally crossed into Washington State.
“Government of Canada records indicate that the individual came to Canada between ports of entry in 2017 from the United States,” said CBSA spokesman Guillaume Bérubé. “He made a refugee claim which was rejected as were subsequent appeals. CBSA initiated removal proceedings and he evaded enforcement efforts.”
The Conservatives plan to ask questions in Parliament about the case including how someone with alleged ties to terrorism had managed to cross the border twice. Conservative immigration critic Tom Kmiec plans to raise the case in the Commons immigration committee on Thursday and ask Immigration Minister Marc Miller to come to the committee to explain what happened.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not specify when Mr. Albana had crossed the border and was apprehended. U.S. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), part of Homeland Security, said Mr. Albana was taken straight into custody and, after proceedings in federal immigration court, was deported to Jordan on Nov. 15.
David Yost, a public affairs official for ERO Seattle, confirmed he had crossed the border from Canada to try to enter the U.S.
A spokesperson for Mr. Miller declined to comment saying the matter was governed by laws that prevent the department discussing individual cases. “We cannot comment on this case due to privacy legislation,” said spokesperson Aissa Diop.
Last month Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s choice as “border czar,” threw down the gauntlet to Canada to get its act together, saying the Canadian government must enforce its immigration laws to stop people, including alleged terrorists, from slipping across the border illegally into the U.S.
Statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that roughly twice as many suspected terrorists have tried to cross from Canada into the U.S. as have from Mexico in recent years.
In September, a Pakistani man living in the Toronto area was arrested near the border in Ormstown, Que., on allegations he was plotting an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting on a Jewish centre in New York. The man entered Canada on a student visa last year.
David Cooper, vice-president, government relations, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said the case of the Jordanian was “alarming” and robust screening is crucial to Canadian and American security.
“This case underscores our ongoing concern about the rigour of Canada’s security screening processes for visitors and immigrants,” he said.
“Similar to the recent case of a Pakistani citizen apprehended in Quebec en route to the U.S. to carry out a terror attack, this incident highlights the troubling trend of terrorists exploiting Canada as a gateway to illegally enter the United States.”