The Canadian government introduced a new legislation to prevent the illegal smuggling of immigrants to Canada. The new law was presented last Thursday. The amendments would make the immigration law stricter by imposing harsher penalties for people responsible for illegal immigration.
The items of the proposal include mandatory prison for convicted people smugglers, detention for a year for new arrivals, a five year waiting period for illegal immigrants to apply for permanent residency, terminated refugee applications for people who return to their home country for vacation; finally, the holding of shipowners and operators regarding the use of ships for illegal passage.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said: “We will not tolerate the abuse of our immigration system, either by human smugglers or by those who are unwilling to play by the rules.”
