Two asylum seekers crossed into Manitoba’s blizzard conditions at the Canada-United States border Tuesday morning.
They are the first two to brave the journey in days – there have been no others since Thursday, according to Greg Janzen, reeve of the municipality of Emerson-Franklin.
“It’s not normal, four days without anyone coming across,” said Greg Janzen, reeve of the municipality of Emerson-Franklin.
He said the two people who crossed on Tuesday were immediately picked up by RCMP and taken to be processed.
According to Janzen, the RCMP and border patrol have recently been doing 24/7 surveillance in the Emerson area. He explained they are trying to prevent people from being further exposed to extreme weather conditions as soon as they cross over.
Even though there has not been anyone – besides the two people – crossing over in the last few days, Janzen does not believe this is the last we’ll see of asylum seekers coming into Manitoba.
"The longer that we don't have people coming into town means the bigger the groups that are going to come, so that's what what's concerning us right now."
Since Jan. 1, RCMP said they have intercepted 183 people illegally crossing the border.
