
Dramatic photos show asylum seekers flooding into Canada across unmanned borders every day from the United States amid fears of a Donald Trump presidency.

The number of asylum seekers crossing into Canada at isolated and unguarded border crossings has increased in recent weeks as many believe Trump will start expelling illegal immigrants.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under increasing pressure on Thursday to deal with asylum seekers illegally crossing into Canada from the US.

Dramatic photos show asylum seekers flooding into Canada across unmanned borders every day from the United States amid fears of a Donald Trump presidency. An extended family of eight people from Colombia were detained by the Canadian Mounted Police officers near Hemmingford, Quebec, on Saturday

The number of asylum seekers crossing into Canada at isolated and unguarded border crossings has increased in recent as many believe Trump will start expelling illegal immigrants. The desperate family crossed the border illegally, according to authorities

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under increasing pressure on Thursday to deal with asylum seekers illegally crossing into Canada from the US. A woman is pictured carrying a young boy

Trudeau, who stresses that Canada welcomes refugees, has so far avoided political fallout with Trump. The two talked on the phone about the border and other issues on Thursday but neither government gave many details of the conversation. Officers spoke with the family on Saturday

Allies and opponents alike say they want a strategy to cope with the dozens of people - mainly from Burundi, Eritrea, Syria, Ghana and Sudan - walking across the border every day

Trudeau, who stresses that Canada welcomes refugees, has so far avoided political fallout with Trump. The two talked on the phone about the border and other issues on Thursday but neither government gave many details of the conversation.

Allies and opponents alike say they want a strategy to cope with the dozens of people - mainly from Burundi, Eritrea, Syria, Ghana and Sudan - walking across the border every day.

The premier of the western province of Manitoba, where many of the refugees end up, on Thursday asked Ottawa for more resources to deal with the new arrivals, some of whom have lost fingers to frostbite in the dangerous crossing.

While Brian Pallister said his province will welcome those in need with 'open arms and open hearts,' his call for a national strategy to deal with the arrivals adds to opposition criticism that Trudeau has put national security at risk by embracing asylum seekers.

As of February 13, some 3,800 people had made an asylum claim in 2017, up from the same period last year and on track to approach the 2008 peak of 36,867, said Scott Bardsley, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

Allies and opponents alike say they want a strategy to cope with the dozens of people - mainly from Burundi, Eritrea, Syria, Ghana and Sudan - walking across the border every day. A man carrying bulky suitcases also crossed into Canada on Saturday

On Thursday, some asylum claimants were arrested by Canadian authorities after they crossed into Canada from the US. The man (left) claimed to be from Turkey, authorities said

A woman, who also claimed to be a claimant from Turkey, was handcuffed near the US-Canada border on Thursday

The number of migrants claiming refugee status at the Canadian-US border rose to over 7,000 last year, up from 4,316 in the previous year

Bardsley said comparable data for the January 1 to February 13 period in 2016 was not available.

The asylum seekers are breaking the law because Canada's policy under a Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement is to turn back refugees if they make claims at border crossings. Trudeau and Trump discussed border cooperation in their phone call on Thursday.

The White House said Trump emphasized the importance of working closely with Canada on cross-border issues, 'including implementation of his administration's actions to protect America from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals and others'.

Officials say Trump will soon issue a new executive order to replace the administration's directive suspending travel to the US by citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries.

Warmer weather could spur more arrivals of asylum-seekers in Canada.

'They know they are in a pickle. If people are coming over in February, what's it going to be like in June and July?' said University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman.

Polls show Canadians are split over whether Canada should be accepting more or fewer refugees. But even Liberal legislators are starting to hear from constituents concerned about the arrivals.

'One or two people have raised the issue with me ... and I expect I'll have a few more' conversations with constituents about the arrivals, said Kevin Lamoureux, member of parliament for Winnipeg North, where many asylum seekers settle awaiting their refugee hearing.

Other dramatic photos that were taken last week, captured the moment eight asylum seekers, including four children, barely made it across the Canadian border as a US border patrol officer tried to stop them.

The photos, which included smiling Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) greeting men, women, teens and children went viral last week.

A US Customs and Border Patrol officer seized their passports and questioned a man in the front passenger seat of a taxi that had pulled up to the border in Champlain, New York.

As the man was being questioned, four adults and four young children fled the cab and ran to RCMP on the other side.

The asylum seekers (pictured on Monday) are breaking the law because Canada's policy under a Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement is to turn back refugees if they make claims at border crossings

Experts have said that warmer weather could spur more arrivals of asylum-seekers in Canada. 'They know they are in a pickle. If people are coming over in February, what's it going to be like in June and July?' said University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman

Polls show Canadians are split over whether Canada should be accepting more or fewer refugees. But even Liberal legislators are starting to hear from constituents concerned about the arrivals. A family talks with police on Monday near Hemmingford, Quebec

A refugee claimant from Mauritania crossed the border into Canada from the US on near Hemmingford, Quebec

One by one they scrambled across the snowy gully separating the two countries.

Family members dragged luggage and pushed their toddler in a stroller through the snow before Canadian officers detained them, per standard procedure for refugee claimants.

RCMP officers watching from the other side helped them up, lifting the younger children and asking a woman, who leaned on her fellow passenger as she walked, if she needed medical care.

The children looked back from where they had come as the US officer held the first man, saying his papers needed to be verified.

The man turned to a pile of belongings and heaved pieces of luggage two at a time into the gully - enormous wheeled suitcases, plastic shopping bags, a black backpack.

'Nobody cares about us,' he said. He said they were all from Sudan and had been living and working in Delaware for two years.

A photo showed that at least one of their passports was Sudanese. Some media reports list the family as being from Somalia.

The man then appeared to grab their passports from the US officer before making a run for the border.

The officer yelled and gave chase but stopped at the border marker. Canadian police took hold of the man's arm as he crossed.

The border patrol officer told his counterpart that the man was in the US illegally and that he would have detained him.

Other dramatic photos that were taken last week, captured the moment eight asylum seekers, including four children (pictured), barely made it across the Canadian border as a US border patrol officer tried to stop them

A US Customs and Border Patrol officer seized their passports and questioned a man in the front passenger seat of a taxi that had pulled up to the border in Champlain, New York . As the man was being questioned, four adults and four young children fled the cab and ran to RCMP on the other side

One by one they scrambled across the snowy gully separating the two countries. Family members dragged luggage and pushed their toddler in a stroller through the snow before Canadian officers detained them, per standard procedure for refugee claimants. One officer flashed a smile as he helped a little girl over a gully

Officers on both sides momentarily eyed the luggage strewn in the snow before the US officer took it, and a walker left on the road, to the border line.

Canadian police carried the articles to their vehicles, and the people piled in to be driven to a nearby border office to be interviewed by police and to make a refugee claim.

'The RCMP aren't there to treat them like bandits. They're here to apply the law', retired Sûreté du Québec police officer and Hemmingford resident François Doré told CBCNews.

The small town of Hemmingford has seen a surge of asylum seekers since Trump took office and instated a ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Sudan and Somalia.

Though key parts of the ban have been blocked by a federal judge, there is still confusion.

Asylum seekers from around the world have shown up in Canada cold and hungry from difficult border crossings in the dead of winter.

Asylum seekers from around the world have shown up in Canada cold and hungry from difficult border crossings in the dead of winter

A family is escorted to police vehicles after crossing into Canada last week

Asylum-seekers sneak across because even if they are caught, they can make a claim in Canada; if they make a claim at a border crossing, they are turned away. Trudeau has admitted that he is 'very concerned' with the amount of asylum seekers crossing into rural areas

The majority of these crossings have been happening on the New York-Quebec border, which authorities attribute to its closeness to the major East Coast cities

'Sometimes when you're left with no options and you're looking for a better life for yourself, people do take risks', Mohamud Noor, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota told Global News.

'It will increase rather than decrease … This is not going to reduce'.

The Canadian government does not have statistics on the number of people seeking refugee status who enter the country illegally.

But Sergeant Harold Pfleiderer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told The New York Times that 'there has been an increase in illegal migration in Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia, with the largest increase being seen in Quebec'.

The reason they are crossing into Canada is because the country is part of an agreement that bars refugees that have already arrived in another 'safe' country from trying to trade up to another country.

Asylum-seekers sneak across because even if they are caught, they can make a claim in Canada; if they make a claim at a border crossing, they are turned away.

Trudeau has admitted that he is 'very concerned' with the amount of asylum seekers crossing into rural areas.

But Trudeau did not say whether he would seek to suspend Canada's agreement with the US and allow these people to apply for refugee status at official borders.

The majority of these crossings have been happening on the New York-Quebec border, which authorities attribute to its closeness to the major East Coast cities.