A family claiming to be from Haiti was confronted by Royal Canadian Mounted Police as they tried to cross the border

It started with a WhatsApp message that read like an answer to the prayers of thousands of immigrants fearing deportation by President Trump.

Canada wanted them, it promised — a revelation that filled Haitians across the United States with hope and helped to encourage an exodus to the north.

There was just one problem: the information was false. Nonetheless thousands of Haitians living legally in the US have crossed into Canada over the past two months rather than risk being sent back to their Caribbean island.

They have quickly discovered the immigration criteria are less forgiving than they had been led to believe.

To cope with the influx, Montreal’s Olympic stadium was pressed into service last week as a shelter for up to 1,050 asylum