Let's stop the rhetoric on illegal immigration and fix the broken system

Canada’s approach to immigration enforcement and border security hasn't changed much in more than a century

Public debate, concern and fear surrounding immigration and refugee issues is nothing new. Since the time of the Industrial Revolution, colonial expansion and the birth of globalization, immigrants and refugees have often been viewed as economic and social threats to established communities — erroneously blamed for taking jobs away from local workers, disrupting cultural and religious norms, and causing a rise in crime and social disorder.

While fears and concerns about immigrants and refugees tend to be muted during periods of economic prosperity, in times of economic and social decline, they are nearly always the first to be blamed for national woes.