The federal NDP critic for immigration, refugees and citizenship, Jenny Kwan, made a visit to Emerson Friday afternoon to meet with municipal officials and to learn more about the asylum seekers crossing the local border.

In the meeting, Kwan emphasized the importance of suspending the Safe Third Country agreement, which is an arrangement between the United States and Canada that requires refugees to request protection in the first safe country they arrive in. However, she said with the Trump government in place, the U.S. is no longer a safe place for refugees. Therefore, she would like to make it possible for refugees to claim status in Canada, even if it is not the first safe country they arrived in.

The critic said if the Canadian government were to give notice about the suspension to the U.S., that would give the federal government approximately 90 days to study the issue and come up with a sustainable solution to the illegal border crossings.

"What I am calling for with the suspension of the Safe Third Country agreement is that it will stop forcing people to come through the irregular crossings; that people will be able to do this orderly process in our sanctioned crossings without fear that they cannot make their application," said Kwan.

She added that this arrangement would decrease the disruption within communities caused by people crossing the border illegally, and would create a safer pathway for refugee claimants.

Kwan said, in order to get this done, she would like to see the federal government follow up its words with action, instead of welcoming people to Canada, but not providing a place for them.

Another issue that needs to be dealt with, said Kwan, is the backlog of applications the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) has been struggling with. The critic called on the federal government's assistance with providing the IRB with more resources to clear up the pile of applications, and continue to review news ones.

Overall, she said she is impressed with how well Emerson and surrounding communites have bonded together to deal with the situation, but change needs to be implemented to ensure the safety of refugees and border communities ensues.