VANCOUVER — Mobin Maqsoodi answers the phone at Inland Refugee Society’s office, where he volunteers to help asylum-seekers when they arrive in Vancouver — many of whom come by foot or plane without visas or status.

He knows what that’s like. The former Afghan college dean walked across the B.C. border from Blaine, Wash. himself just 10 months ago.

So when he heard the Parliament of his new country, Canada, was debating whether people like him should be called “illegals” on Wednesday, it’s personal.

“I crossed around 9 p.m., the police came and got me, and after two days in a holding centre my claim was accepted without a hearing,” he told StarMetro. “Then I came to Inland Refugee Society, and they helped me find housing. Now I volunteer for them.”

The organization is currently helping more than 20 refugee claimants, some referred to the charity by immigration lawyers, some straight from Canada Border Services Agency or the Red Cross.

But as the weather warms and summer nears, the numbers of border crossers is expected to jump.

In the first three months of this year, there were nearly 6,400 arrivals deemed “irregular” — not pre-arranged or at an official crossing. Although the majority by foot cross the border in Quebec, some like Maqsoodi and several families profiled by StarMetro cross into British Columbia.

Last year, nearly 21,000 people did so across Canada, just 1,500 fewer than the number of people who made “regular” port of entry refugee claims.

Maqsoodi said that his refugee settlement organization is struggling to find housing for as many of the claimants arriving as possible. But he’s bracing for a spike in numbers soon and hopes British Columbians will continue stepping forward with donations or even offers of accommodation.

On Wednesday, Vancouver MP Jenny Kwan introduced a point of order motion in Parliament demanding federal Cabinet ministers not call asylum-seekers “illegal” when they cross the border into Canada irregularly, saying they’ve not violated the Criminal Code.

The issue of which words best describe unauthorized arrivals came up on March 19 in the federal Citizenship and Immigration Committee, when Conservative MP David Tilson asked immigration minister Ahmed Hussen why he described border crossers as “irregular” arrivals, not “illegal.”

“You’ve used the word ‘irregular’ but almost everyone else uses the word ‘illegal,’” Tilson said. “Which is it and why?”

Hussen replied: “I’m happy to use ‘illegal’ if — ” before Tilson interjected: “Yes, because it is illegal.”

To which Hussen replied: “I have used the word ‘illegal’ and I have used the word ‘irregular’ and I think both are accurate.”

Asked about the same term in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed:

“Crossing a border between official border crossings is illegal,” he said, but explained that under international law, Canada must accommodate asylum claims no matter where they are made. “If someone claims asylum because they are fleeing persecution, war or violence we are required to analyze that request.”

That led MP Jenny Kwan to condemn his and Hussen’s use of the label “illegal” in a point of order calling on the Liberals to renounce the term.

She explained to StarMetro it is simply inaccurate and paints asylum-seekers as criminals, not refugees with the right to a fair asylum application process upon arrival.

“The Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act specifically and explicitly says that those who cross over at irregular border crossings are not committing a criminal offence,” Kwan said in a phone interview. “The Conservatives have been fear-mongering using the word ‘illegal’ … but the Liberals should know better — you have the highest elected people in the country using a term aimed at creating fear.”

According to immigration and refugee lawyer Fadi Yachoua, with Embarkation Law Group, although such border-crossers are technically breaking a law — the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act — the matter is more complex because Canada has international and Charter obligations to determine if they’re actually fleeing danger.

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“They definitely aren’t illegal,” he said in a phone interview. “A legal process unfolds to engage with them … Our Canadian legal system begins a process, at the end of which they can become a convention refugee, which allows them to eventually become permanent residents or citizens.”

Maqsoodi said during that application process, housing is one of the hardest challenges facing settlement agencies — and labels like “illegal” don’t help with renting apartments or finding work.

“This coming summer we’re expecting more refugees coming into Canada,” he said. “So we are just trying to house them in as many apartments as we have or can find.”

David P. Ball is a Vancouver-based StarMetro reporter, covering democracy and politics. Reach him by email or @davidpball.

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