Transcript for Spike in immigrants illegally crossing to Canada from US

Moving to the can Canadian border and the immigrants fleeing north to a new life. Some families, some undocument D, have been sneaking across for decades. Now with heightened fears around the president's new policies those are spiking. Reporter: Right now, undocumented immigrants desperately fleeing to the north. Families with small children making the trek on foot, in the snow, dragging everything they own. It's very painful. Reporter: Canadian border police making arrests, but assisting those who make a refugee claim. We made it and we are happy with that. Reporter: The number of asylum seekers illegally crossing along the Quebec border skyrocketing in January, up 230% over last year. The system is made to handle about 15,000 claims a year. We're at 30,000 right now. Like I said, working double capacity. The system wasn't made to handle that number of claimants. Reporter: Many making the move out of fear after recent immigration raids and continued debate over the president's executive order banning refugees from seven majority Muslim countries. These are campaign promises. Some people are so surprised that we're having strong borders. Well, that's what I've been talking about for a year and a half. Strong borders. Reporter: Canada allowed nearly 40,000 Syrian refugees into their country in the past year. In a joint news conference with trump, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said the policy will remain. We continue to pursue our policies of openness towards immigration and refugees without compromising security. So far this weekend, immigration lawyers telling us that there's been a steady stream of people crossing the border here illegally. They say that it doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. Tom. Eva pilgrim on the u.s./can Canadian border.

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