Canada is prepping its expansive southern border for an expected surge of illegal migrants ahead of the mass deportations that President-elect Donald Trump has promised to enact upon taking office, The New York Times reported.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is planning to add agents, patrol vehicles, and temporary detention centers along the 5,525-mile border with the United States, an operation that has been months in the making, according to the Times.
"We knew that, if Mr. Trump came into power, the status quo at the border would change," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Charles Poirier told the Times.
Meanwhile, Trump's incoming border czar Tom Homan said he's concerned about illegals poring through the northern border now, calling it a "huge national security issue" for the U.S. given that there are "a lot less, fewer officers" along the U.S.-Canada border, according to the report.
The anticipated surge also comes at a time when Canada is planning to reduce legal immigration. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last month a plan to gradually reduce the number of new permanent immigrants to 365,000 by 2027, down from the 500,000 he first proposed.
Canada is also preparing to send asylum-seekers back to the U.S., much like Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, that he has vowed to reinstitute.
"The reason that exists is that the United States is deemed to be a safe country for people to make their initial asylum claim," Marc Miller, Canada's immigration minister, said recently, according to the Times. "So too with Canada — it's a two-way street. We expect that agreement to continue to be fully enforced."