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TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - The number of asylum seekers who illegally crossed the U.S. border into Canada more than tripled last month, according to Canadian government data released on Thursday, as migrants worried about the U.S. administration's immigration crackdown head north.

More than 3,100 people walked across the border illegally in July to file refugee claims and were arrested, up from 884 in June, the federal government said.

Ninety-six percent of them went to Quebec, where an influx of asylum seekers, primarily Haitians, is sparking a backlash from opposition politicians and anti-immigrant groups in the primarily French-speaking province.

In the first 15 days of August, an additional 3,800 asylum seekers were arrested crossing the U.S. border into Quebec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. More than 1,000 people are living in tents and government facilities at a Lacolle, Quebec border crossing across from upstate New York.

"It's not a crisis. It's a situation that is extraordinary. But it's well-managed," Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters in Lacolle on Thursday.

Canada is struggling to house and provide social assistance for the influx of asylum seekers as its refugee system faces the worst delays in years.

The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), which is responsible for hearing all asylum claims, has redeployed resources to deal with the Quebec arrivals.

"The IRB had to make adjustments to be in a position to respond to the current situation that is clearly unsustainable," spokeswoman Anna Pape said in an email.

Canada has launched a campaign to counter misinformation about the country's refugee policy, which is believed to be one reason for the influx of refugees.

"Asking for asylum in Canada is not a guarantee for permanent residence in Canada, and it's extremely important we stress that," immigration ministry spokesman Louis Dumas told reporters.

Conservative parliamentarian Michelle Rempel, her party's immigration critic, said the government steps are a "band aid" solution.

"This situation started with Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau's irresponsible tweets and he has a responsibility to fix it," Rempel said in a statement, referring to January tweets Trudeau sent touting Canada's welcome of refugees after a U.S. travel ban was unveiled.

A Trudeau spokesman said the government has been consistent on the issue of refugees: "Canada welcomes immigrants ... that said, there are laws and processes in place for people seeking asylum and our government is sending a clear message."

Many of the most recent asylum seekers arriving in Quebec have been Haitians who face looming deportation from the United States when their temporary protected status expires in January 2018.

Canada ended its own ban on deportations to Haiti last summer. In the first quarter of this year, almost two-thirds of Haitian refugee claims were rejected, according to government figures.

The spike in asylum seekers has sparked protests by anti-migrant groups who say Canada is being soft on law-breakers.

The Montreal suburb of Boucherville has received dozens of messages on social media denouncing the asylum seekers, some of whom are being housed at a former seniors home in the quiet suburb, according to local media reports. Montreal, Quebec's biggest city, opened its Olympic Stadium to house the arrivals.

Sylvain Brouillette, a spokesman for right-wing extremist group La Meute, which is organizing a Quebec City protest on Sunday, said his group is protesting the "policies of the Trudeau government toward illegal immigration."

Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny and Allison Lampert; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Dan Grebler

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Canada sees 'unsustainable' spike in asylum seekers at US border - Reuters

August 15, 2017 10:12 PM

LAGUNA BEACH (CBSLA.com)A planned alt-right rally against illegal immigration is causing friction.

The America First Rally is set for this Sunday evening on Main Beach in Laguna.

Emotions are still raw after the violent clashes at a rally of white nationalists in Virginia last weekend. Locals wonder if any kind of rally related to Trump is a good idea.

I can see there being a pretty big community backlash in Laguna Beach specifically, said Thomas Cota, who works in Laguna.

I think its a terrible idea, said Tustin resident Sara McKay.

On Tuesday lawmakers in Northern California called for the National Park Service to rescind a permit issued for a pro-Trump rally scheduled for next week.

Police said it could easily turn violent. Just like it did when pro-Trump supporters clashed with protesters in Huntington Beach last spring. Thats why Laguna Beach officers will keep a close eye on the rally and the Orange County Sheriffs Department is prepared to help if things get ugly.

I dont think anyone should attend, said Huntington Beach resident Joel Chang. I dont know why this is happening.

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Planned Alt-Right Rally Against Illegal Immigration Causing Friction - CBS Los Angeles

An illegal immigrant who returned to the country after being deported to Mexico is accused of raping a 7-year-old girl thousands of times.

Victor Francisco Michel-Lara, 32, of Cedar City, Utah was arrested Sunday and faces first-degree felony charges of rape of a child, according to his arrest report. He was also placed on an immigration detainer.

OHIO WOMAN POSTS SNAPCHAT VIDEO OF ALLEGED RAPE BY STEPGRANDFATHER, COPS SAY

The girl told investigators that Michel-Lara molested her many times in the last six months and had raped her thousands of times, the St. George Daily Spectrum reported.

He admitted to inappropriately touching the girl, but said it happened accidentally when he rubbed lotion on her, the newspaper said. He also allegedly said the rape accidentally happened when the two were rough housing.

PENNSYLVANIA MAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED RAPE WROTE DESCRIPTIONS OF HIS 'PERFECT' VICTIMS

"He stated that she moves around a lot with the lotion making his fingers slippery (and) they accidentally slipped into her vagina," an investigator wrote in a police report, the newspaper reported.

Michel-Lara has been deported from the U.S. twice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Fox News -- once in December 2005, through San Ysidro, Calif., and another time in July 2013 through El Paso, Tx.

He is being held on $200,000 bail at the Iron County Jail.

Read more:
Illegal immigrant in Utah who was deported raped 7-year-old girl 'thousands of times,' police say - Fox News

Federal immigration authorities have agreed to allow outside groups more freedom to conduct telephone medical screenings of detained illegal immigrants to help them make their asylum cases.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in an agreement approved by a federal judge Wednesday, said it will not hinder telephone-based mental exams for illegal immigrant women and children being kept at two detention facilities.

ICE also agreed to let a legal assistant working with the illegal immigrants back into one of the facilities in Texas.

The case is the latest battle between Homeland Security and immigrant-rights activists who say illegal immigrants are being treated poorly while stuck in detention awaiting their deportation or asylum case proceedings.

The activists said ICE instituted a new policy in May requiring pre-approval before doctors could administer a telephone mental exam, and used that policy to kick out the legal assistant whod been orchestrating the calls.

ICE denied it was doing anything wrong, but has agreed to restore access for legal assistant, Caroline Perris, and said it would allow telephonic evaluations.

ICE did say authorities wont let a request for a telephone evaluation interfere with a deportation, nor would it guarantee the detainees would always be available.

However, ICE will not take actions for the purpose of interfering with a residents availability to participate in a telephonic medical evaluation, the agency said in the agreement.

Neither ICE nor the managing attorney for the Dilley Pro Bono Project, the lead plaintiff in the case, returned messages seeking comment.

The South Texas Family Residential Center and the Karnes County Residential Center, which is also in Texas, were created to hold the large number of illegal immigrant families that began streaming across the border in 2014.

Usually mothers and children, the migrants were coming from Central America to the U.S., hoping to gain a foothold here amid relaxed enforcement from the Obama administration.

Activists have tried to shutter the facilities, saying those being detained have often fled rough conditions in their home countries and should be treated as refugees in need of care and comfort.

Many of those being held are making asylum claims citing their lives back home, and activists say the mental exams are a critical part of proving those cases.

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Feds agree to mental evaluations for illegal immigrants seeking asylum - Washington Times

The American Bar Association (ABA) has voted to allow immigrants in the US illegally to take state bar exams in order to become licensed lawyers. The standard is already in effect in seven states, with the resolution providing guidance for others.

The American Bar Association supports the principle that bar admission should not be denied based solely on immigration status,stated the ABAs House of Delegates resolution, passed Monday at its annual meeting.

The ABA suggests the resolution should be passed into state law. In its current form, the resolution isnt enforceable, but it makes clear that the federal government should not get in the way of states granting a legal license to a candidate who passes the bar exam, even if they are in the country illegally.

It provides guidance to courts and legislatures who are grappling with this [issue], and overall Congress itself, to say the legal profession approves of this, attorneyCesar Vargas told RT.

Mexican-born Vargas is a participant in the Obama's administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals(DACA) program. He went through a four-year legal battle to open the admission of "undocumented immigrants" into the legal profession.

Thomas Kim, whose South Korean parents brought him to the United States on a tourist visa and then never returned home, sponsored the resolution. Kim said he faces an uncertain future, as it is still unclear if he'll be eligible to practice law in Oregon after he earns his law degree from Arizona State University in 2018.

Kim won a full-time scholarship to study an undergraduate degree and won a full tuition merit scholarship to study law at Arizona State University.

I am wanting to become a lawyer. I am wanting to become a lawyer who gives back to his community and gives back to this country that has been so generous to him. So I ask for your support, pleaded Kim in a video posted by the ABA.

This is nothing new. This is in total alignment with what the ABA has been doing since conception of its origin commitment to diversity, commitment to equality and commitment to fairness, he added.

Opposing the resolution was a delegate from the State Bar of Georgia.

"I would love to call them brothers and sisters of law but as lawyers we are tasked with upholding the rule of law. How can we uphold the law by supporting those who are violating the law to join our profession? argued John R. B. Long.

Even if the resolution was to pass, Long said, individuals who clear the state bar will not be able to find employment with the government, and will have difficulty getting hired by most law firms.

The practical effect is that you will be giving false hope to people who will take out a tremendous amount of debt as an undocumented alien, go to law school, sit for the bar, and be unemployable. For these reasons I disagree and ask that the board vote against this resolution, Long said.

So far, seven states have either allowed illegal immigrants to become lawyers, or made changes to the law to allow such a provision.

California passed a law in 2013 to allow some illegal immigrants to practice law. Florida officials facilitated the process for the Mexican-born Jose Godinez-Samperio to become a lawyer in 2014. Vargas was admitted to the New York state bar in 2016.

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When it comes to such people finding employment, Vargas told RT that the law is malleable.

It depends on the state agency. I could work for the Mayors office, I could work for a city council member but I couldnt work for the District Attorney because you have to be a citizen, Vargas said. Even without DACA you could set up your own law firm. Law is creative and unfortunately I think some people think of it as a very academic issue, but legally there are creative ways to achieve the same results.

DACA is a deportation relief and work permission program created by the Obama administration. It first accepted applicants in 2012 from immigrants who arrived to the US as minors and did not have citizenship status.

Under the program, 800,000 people were granted protection from deportation, but it is a temporary benefit that needs to be renewed every two years.

The Trump administration has kept the program in place but the deadline for its renewal is September 5; and ten states are threatening to take the administration to court unless it ends DACA.

People like myself, I spent a decade being undocumented but during that time I went to college, went to law school, people started business, become licensed professionals, and if anything this reaffirms our commitment towards a permanent legislative solution, Vargas told RT.

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American Bar Association to allow illegal immigrants to become lawyers - RT