Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, discusses the situation of irregular migration as Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, looks on Monday, May 7, 2018 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

The Liberal government conducted two dozen outreach meetings with groups of potential asylum seekers in the last ten months to educate them about Canada’s asylum system.

A new document from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows 24 meetings, dating back to August 2017, were conducted by Immigration minister Ahmed Hussen and other MPs with different diaspora groups in the United States and elsewhere.

The meetings are part of a broader outreach program conducted by the Trudeau government to educate migrant groups about Canada’s asylum system following the spread of misinformation on social media contributing to an uptick in irregular border crossings. The government is hoping to promote migration through official channels instead of receiving asylum seekers by foot over the Canada-U.S. border.

“If you’re coming to Canada thinking the asylum system is some type of free ticket to get to stay, well it’s not,” Hussen’s spokesperson Mathieu Genest told iPolitics.

The money for these trips comes from the $173 million set aside in the 2018 budget for irregular asylum seekers, Genest continued.

The outreach campaign is not to deter refugees, Genest said. Those who still fit Canada’s definition of a refugee and are in need of protection are welcome to file a claim.

Genest said the ministry targeted communities that could be impacted by the Trump Administration’s rollback on temporary protective status (TPS) for ten countries.

Created in 1990, the United States’ TPS program suspends the deportation of foreign nationals from some countries that are destabilized by war, natural disaster or “other extraordinary and temporary conditions,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. TPS designation is under constant review by the American government and can only be extended for up to 18 months after its initial end date.

U.S. Immigration Services lists 10 countries currently under TPS protection in the United States: El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The Trump administration is not asking all ten groups to leave the United States; Immigration Services extended protection to Yemeni and Somali nationals on July 5 and July 19th, respectfully, until March 2020.

However, the Trump administration made waves last November when it started repealing temporary protection for the Haitian community.

As many as 250 Haitians fled to rural Quebec every day by walking a road in Upstate New York even before the official announcement was made by the White House.

Data released by the Immigration and Refugee Board found Haitians account for 6,304 of the 14,467 refugee claims filed between February and October 2017.

In response, the Canadian government held three meetings from August-November with the Haitian communities in Miami and New York City.

The list of meetings also includes eight sessions with various “latino” groups, although the ministry would not say if any specific nationalities were targeted. Genest said the ministry identified the “potential” movement of Latin Americans to Canada after the initial Haiti decision.

MPs Pablo Rodriguez and Randy Boissonnault were tapped for these missions because of their ability to speak Spanish. When asked about the meetings, both MPs referred back to the department for comment.

The Trump administration announced in February that 200,000 Salvadorans living in the United States will have to leave the country because their TPS agreement will not be renewed after its September 2019 expiry date.

Signed in 2001, the agreement regarding Salvadorans was put into force after a string of earthquakes in the Central American country, but was extended by former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, citing extreme violence there. The asylum seekers now have to obtain legal residency or face deportation.

Earlier this year, the ministry said a “whole of government approach” was underway to watch potential scenarios of more migrants moving across the border.

The Trump Administration has also announced the termination of TPS protections for over 5,300 Nicaraguans by January 2019. Hondurans will also lose their protection, but the President did not set a formal date when that will occur.

In 2018, the Canadian government’s strategy moved away from Latin America to focus on the irregular entry of Nigerians from the United States, who often hold valid U.S. visas. In the last five months, more than half of the 12 meetings were with members of the West African country.

Genest credits the meetings with reducing the number of irregular migrants recorded in Canada. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, irregular migration to Canada is decreasing, with only 1,263 claims filed in June – down from 2,560 claims in April. This means there was an average of 39 irregular asylum claims made everyday in June.

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