The Undefended Border

The series opens by drawing tighter focus on the new realities of post September 11. Immigration and Customs officials are on high alert to intercept criminals at the border. But in the face of 1,000 or more refugee claimants who arrive each month, how do immigration authorities filter the bad from the good? How do they know for certain that a legitimate claimant doesn't turn out to be a terrorist? In this episode, immigration officers tell of the new pressures they face as they inspect several cases, including a Turkish military officer and his family seeking refugee status, and a Guyanese mother of two in flight from the U.S. who fears her husband is trying to kill her.

The Immigration Task Force was created in 1994 after a Toronto police officer and a cafe patron were shot to death by illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds. In this film, we learn how Immigration and the RCMP cooperate to ferret out and arrest criminals and target previous deportees who have reentered Canada unlawfully. Since 9/11, their caseload has increased by 50 percent. In this episode, investigators get a tip that a man charged with murder in his native Jamaica has been living in Canada for several years under a false identity. They track him down in a knife-sharpening business.

This episode examines some of the problems of Canada's immigration system and the issues posed by illegal immigrants. Why can an illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet appeal his deportation order and stay in Canada until it is heard? Appeals can take up to five years to be finally resolved. Enhanced border control and apprehension of illegals are only partial solutions to curbing illegal immigration. The program examines the immigration system's bureaucratic machinery, and the level of frustration of the officers who must enforce policies and tackle conflicting priorities. It also looks at the apprehension of failed refugee claimants and visa overstays who often go underground while continuing to receive social benefits. (An estimated 100,000 illegal immigrants live underground in Toronto alone), the problem of illegals who make bogus applications for political asylum to avoid deportation, and the apprehension and removal of war criminals.