Question Period Note: Border Security Initiatives – Migrant Smuggling

Migrant smuggling across the Canada-U.S. border remains a public safety concern.

• Migrant smuggling networks are sophisticated, highly lucrative transnational organized crime groups that endanger migrants’ lives and pose a danger to the public safety of the communities in which they operate.

• Migrant smuggling is a global problem that requires domestic and international partnerships to gather and share information to detect and investigate organized crime groups and networks.

• Funding from Canada's Border Plan builds on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) existing initiatives to monitor and secure the border between ports of entry and reduce cross border crime, including the investigation of migrant smuggling.

Background
Migrant smuggling, also referred to as human smuggling, involves the facilitation of the illegal entry of individuals into a country of which they are neither citizens nor permanent residents. This crime typically occurs with the consent of the individual who will be smuggled, who pays the smuggler in exchange for services such as fraudulent travel documents (e.g., passports or visas), clandestine transportation, accommodation, and other forms of logistical support. In some instances, individuals who initially consent to being smuggled may subsequently become victims of human trafficking, subjected to exploitation by their smugglers.
Transnational serious and organized crime groups engaged in migrant smuggling exploit the desperation of vulnerable individuals for financial gain. The profits generated by migrant smuggling networks are frequently used to fund other forms of illicit activity, including drug trafficking, firearms smuggling, and corruption.
Investigating migrant smuggling operations presents significant challenges for law enforcement. These criminal networks often consist of loosely connected actors operating across multiple countries, with limited direct interaction with the migrants themselves. The transnational and complex nature of these networks creates obstacles to obtaining evidence and securing witness cooperation. As such, joint investigations and timely information sharing among domestic and international law enforcement partners are essential to effectively identify, disrupt, and dismantle these networks.
RCMP Efforts to Combat Migrant Smuggling
The RCMP is responsible for border security between official ports of entry (POE) along the Canada-U.S. border, across all domains (air, land, marine and Arctic,). The goal is to prevent illegal activity that may pose a threat to the safety and security of Canada. The RCMP collaborates with Canadian law enforcement and Indigenous partners to further Canada’s collective approach to secure the borders from serious criminal threats. Canada and the U.S. have a long tradition of working together on initiatives that allow for joint operations and investigations of criminal threats to the Canada-U.S. border, including migrant smuggling (for example, the Integrated Border Enforcement teams and the Integrated Cross-border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations (Shiprider)).
The RCMP uses a variety of surveillance tools and technologies as well as patrols to monitor and secure the border in between the POE. The RCMP is leveraging investments from Canada’s Border Plan to deploy a new Aerial Intelligence Task Force comprising helicopters, drones, and mobile surveillance towers to further strengthen surveillance between POE. In addition, the RCMP provided national direction to mobilize resources along the Canada-U.S. border, increasing capacity to patrol, detect, respond to, and investigate north and south bound threats.

If Pressed
Q1- What specific measures is the RCMP taking to identify and dismantle organized crime networks involved in migrant smuggling operations in Canada and abroad?
• The RCMP is responsible for securing Canada’s borders between official Ports of Entry (POE) from inbound and outbound serious criminal threats. To do this, the RCMP takes a layered approach to border security, working to prevent, detect and disrupt the greatest threats using technology and intelligence.

• The RCMP uses a variety of surveillance tools and technologies as well as patrol assets to monitor in between the ports of entry, within Canadian laws and regulations.

• The RCMP Federal Policing Border Integrity team is dedicated to addressing serious crimes at the Canadian border; this includes migrant smuggling.

Q2- How does the RCMP collaborate with international law enforcement partners to prevent migrant smuggling before individuals reach Canadian borders?
• The RCMP works closely with international law enforcement partners to help secure the Canada’s borders and expansive coastline.

• The RCMP works closely with U.S. counterparts at the border to investigate transnational human smuggling networks that facilitate the movement of people. Close collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Coast Guard allows for coordinated cross-border activities and investigations.

• For instance, the RCMP collaborates with U.S. law enforcement partners through the Cross-Border Law Enforcement Advisory Committee and the Integrated Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations, also known as Shiprider.

Q3: What is the RCMP’s mandate for southbound migration?
• Southbound migration falls within the RCMP’s mandate to ensure border security between official Ports of Entry.

• Southbound migration is difficult, since the crime is committed only once the individual has crossed into the U.S. – outside of Canadian jurisdiction. This is where the RCMP leverages its partnerships with the U.S. law enforcement partners.