More than 20,000 asylum seekers crossed the Canadian border from the US in 2017

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More than 20,000 asylum seekers crossed the border from the US in 2017 over fears of being deported by the Trump administration.

And Canada fears numbers will only increase as Donald Trump gets tougher on immigration and asylum.

Canadian Immigration and Refugee Minister Ahmed Hussen, who himself is a former refugee from Somalia, said: “It’s not a new phenomenon, but there was a sharp increase in the number of illegal entries last year.

“Canada’s immigration and asylum policy is pretty straight-forward: our country is open to immigration, but not to illegal immigration. Our rules must be respected.