U.S. customs officials find tiger cub stuffed in duffel bag abandoned by smugglers along Texas border
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
May 1, 2018
Updated:
May 1, 2018 5:32 PM EDT
This April 30, 2018 photo provided by U.S Customs and Border Protection shows a male tiger in a duffle bag that was seized at the border near Brownsville, Texas.U.S. Customs and Border Protection via AP
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Smugglers left behind a live tiger cub in a duffel bag when they fled back to Mexico after attempting to cross the Rio Grande into Texas.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on Tuesday said the male tiger, believed to be three or four months old, has been placed at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.
This April 30, 2018 photo provided by U.S Customs and Border Protection shows a male tiger on an exam table at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection via AP
Border Patrol agents patrolling Monday along the river near Brownsville saw three people trying to enter the U.S. illegally. An agency statement says the trio abandoned a bag and returned to Mexico.
This April 30, 2018 photo provided by U.S Customs and Border Protection shows agents carrying a male tiger in a duffle bag that was seized at the border near Brownsville, Texas, into the the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville. U.S. Customs and Border Protection via AP
Officers discovered the cub stuffed in the bag. Agent Robert Rodriguez said Tuesday that the tiger appeared calm and was possibly sedated.
U.S. customs officials find tiger cub stuffed in duffel bag abandoned by smugglers along Texas border | Toronto Sun
MALCOLM: Official says CBSA being 'muzzled' by Trudeau government
Candice Malcolm
Published:
May 2, 2018
Updated:
May 2, 2018 7:48 AM EDT
Asylum seekers line up to receive boxed lunches after entering Canada from the U.S. at Roxham Rd. in Hemmingford, Que., in this Aug. 9, 2017 file photo. Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Border guards assigned to keep Canada safe are blowing the whistle on the Trudeau government.
CBSA officials are being “muzzled” and the Trudeau government is not properly enforcing the law, according to a CBSA official who reached out to the Toronto Sun for an exclusive interview.
“This government is making it up as they go along,” said the irritated CBSA officer, who asked to remain anonymous because, in his words, “we are muzzled.”
“But, I can tell you that the rank and file cadre has had it ‘up to here’ as with the rest of the growing number of frustrated Canadians out there,” he said.
As reported exclusively in the Sun, a CBSA vehicle was parked at the popular illegal border entry along Roxham Rd. in rural Quebec. This raises serious questions about why CBSA is stationed at an unofficial crossing, and why they’re not enforcing Canada’s immigration laws.
According to a media briefing attended by the Sun last month, it is the RCMP — and not CBSA — who is “responsible for enforcement between official Ports of Entry.”
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RCMP arrest migrants who enter Canada illegally, and then “transfer to CBSA for (immigration) processing,” according to a government backgrounder on the process for illegal entry and asylum claims.
If, however, the CBSA is stationed at the illegal border crossing on Roxham Rd., as proven by the Sun report, CBSA should be enforcing border and immigration laws. Specifically, they should be applying the Safe Third Country Agreement that prohibits asylum seekers coming from safe countries like the United States.
Both CBSA and RCMP officially refused to comment on the situation at Roxham Rd., or explain why CBSA was stationed at an illegal entry point.
“You couldn’t be more spot on,” said the CBSA officer about the Sun report. He went on to explain this contradiction in greater detail.
“If (CBSA) powers only apply in custom controlled areas, and CBSA is stationed (at Roxham Rd.),” it means one of two things, he explained.
Either Roxham Rd. is now “a customs-controlled area and an official crossing where the safe third country (law) is now as applicable as anywhere else,” or, “it is not an official crossing and all actions taken by CBSA officers are null and void,” he said.
“Meaning all illegal migrants should be made to proceed to an official port of entry immediately, where the (safe third country laws) will now apply to all of them.”
More than 50,000 asylum claims were made in 2017, the highest number in our history. Almost half of those claims came from people who crossed illegally from the U.S., most at this one location on Roxham Rd.
So far in 2018, the number of border jumpers has already tripled since last year.
The CBSA official also mentioned his disappointment towards Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s role in sparking this surge of illegal immigration into Canada, and his government’s failure to stop it.
“These migrants can read Trudeau’s Twitter but can’t read the sign saying their crossing is illegal?” he asked skeptically, referring to large signs placed on the New York side of Roxham Rd.
“Stop: It is illegal to cross the border here or any place other than a Port of Entry. You will be arrested and detained if you cross here,” reads the sign, which migrants walk right past on their way into Canada.
“Give me a break,” said the frustrated CBSA officer.
MALCOLM: Official says CBSA being ‘muzzled’ by Trudeau government | Toronto Sun
