Where Are They? 30,000 Deportees Missing in Canada, Mostly from Ontario

OTTAWA(The Uttam Hindu): Nearly 30,000 individuals are wanted for deportation in Canada according to new documents from the Canada Border Services Agency. The figures, provided in response to an order paper question by Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP Laila Goodridge, show that a total of 29,731 people are listed as "wanted" by immigration authorities.

These are the ones who failed to report for deportation hearings or had warrants issued against them due to immigration offenses. The largest population of absconders is in Ontario, with 21,325 individuals missing from the province, making it the biggest cohort of immigration violators in the country.

The announcement comes at a time when Canada's immigration policies are being criticized because of both the increasing affordability crisis and the possibility of punitive tariffs from the incoming U.S. administration. The Trudeau government is now mulling the tightening of immigration regulations as part of a larger plan to deal with population growth and better manage immigration.

In response to these concerns, the federal government has set a target to encourage the voluntary departure of nearly 2.4 million people over the next two years. Still, the large number of people evading deportation raises questions regarding the effectiveness of the current enforcement measures by the CBSA.

With such huge impediments in immigration enforcement as well as the possibility of international tension, the very situation has called for radical reforms in the immigration laws of Canada so that deportation orders are obeyed better, and the border control systems are strengthened.