Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter

A family of four seeking refugee status was found by RCMP officers in a wooded area in the municipality of Havelock in the early morning of March 7, after they became lost trying to cross the border. 

The family had been walking in the woods for hours with their two young children when they called for help. Officers found the family huddled against a tree, suffering from extreme hypothermia and unable to move. They were transported to a hospital and are now in stable condition.

The family requested refugee status when they were found, and their case has been transferred to the Canada Border Services Agency.

This incident marked the eighth weekend in a row that RCMP officers have launched a search and rescue operation to find individuals who have crossed the Canada-U.S. border irregularly only to become lost in densely wooded areas between Hemmingford and Dundee.

Sergeant François Paquet of the RCMP’s Valleyfield detachment says that while there has been a “big drop” in southbound traffic, the number of migrants attempting to cross into Canada from the United States is steady.

“It fluctuates from week to week, temperature to temperature,” says Paquet, who suggests they have not seen a spike in “northbound” movement since the U.S. administration changed hands in January. He explains that the RCMP is prepared and will adapt if things change, but for now officers are focused on continuing their work along the border.

Search and rescue operations

Paquet admits this winter’s harsh temperatures and heavy snowfall has complicated some aspects of the job. He recently led a team of around 20 officers on a lengthy search and rescue operation in Hinchinbrooke on February 23. The United States Border Patrol (USBP) reported at least two people had been spotted heading towards the Canadian border between Powerscourt Road, Herdman Road, and the First Concession.

Officers first attempted to locate the individuals by tracking cell phone signals. When this did not work, they used a drone with thermal imaging technology. Blowing snow and poor weather conditions kept this option from working as well. They called in the air service for assistance and brought in an ARGO, or all-terrain off-road vehicle, to search the deforested area along the border called “the slash.” After spotting tracks in the snow, they abandoned the vehicle and entered the forest on foot. The Blackhawk helicopter was also called to join the search.

“It was a race against the clock,” says Paquet. “We know they are not well equipped for winter, and the safety of our officers and the migrants is very important,” he explains. “We want to find them before anyone gets hurt or dies of hypothermia,” he adds.

Eventually, officers found five individuals sitting against a tree about 100 metres from the First Concession. “They were tired. They were frozen. Some of them could not feel their feet,” says Paquet, noting there was a 14-year-old among the group. All five were arrested before being taken to the Hôpital du Suroît in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield for treatment for severe frostbite.

The RCMP quickly discovered that the group included two Canadian citizens and a family of three with no status in Canada. One of the Canadians is suspected of being an escort hired to bring the family through the woods, while the other was attempting to return to Canada after having illegally entered the United States. Officers also arrested the driver of a vehicle from Montreal who was found waiting for the family.

Officers seized over $11,000 from the family, which they determined would have been paid to the smugglers. The family, once rescued, requested refugee status.

‘We have had to adapt’

Paquet says it is not unusual that those found in the woods are transported to hospital. “We have seen people who were barefoot in the snow, and they had been walking for hours. No coats, in T-shirts. We have seen children barefoot, kids with aluminium foil on their feet,” he says, noting that migrants are now crossing in areas that are much more difficult to access, which hampers rescue efforts.

“Two or three years ago, we had people going to the police. They would cross the road and wait,” says Paquet, referring to Roxham Road. “Now we are in a situation where they don’t want us to arrest them or even find them,” he explains, adding that smugglers promise safe and easy passage across the border, which is “completely false.”

Paquet admits the RCMP has had to adapt its patrol and operational strategies due to the presence of smuggling networks. “In Valleyfield over the past year we have had more than 20 human smuggling cases that we have judicialized,” he says, noting they have made numerous arrests and seized vehicles, and large sums of money.

“We are in the process of developing experience and an expertise,” he insists, while pointing out this has meant working more closely with the local population. “We have done a lot of awareness-raising with people who reside near or along the border… We have passed out leaflets and business cards, and we will be posting signs with the RCMP’s telephone number,” he explains.

The federal police force is not able to share how often people call with information, but Paquet insists officers follow up on every tip. “We try to use a multitude of technologies at our disposal,” he says, noting they regularly patrol in marked and unmarked vehicles, and are now able to rely on air services including the Blackhawk helicopter.

Paquet says they have not been told whether the Blackhawk will continue to be used after the initial contract expires on March 31, but they are planning for the long term. “We have members who have trained for it and who have started patrolling,” he says, while suggesting locals should expect to keep seeing and hearing the utility helicopter overhead.

It is OK to help

Paquet says that in the event residents encounter someone they think could be a migrant, it is best to contact the RCMP as soon as possible, especially if medical attention is required. “Canadians have a duty to assist a person in danger,” he says, noting that depending on their level of comfort, locals can invite people into their homes while they wait for the RCMP, or provide warm clothing, blankets, and food.

“I can guarantee that every call will be taken seriously,” says Paquet. At the same time, he says officers are now familiar with the people in the area. He says they are aware of temporary foreign workers, of hunters in the woods, and increased activity in maple groves with the start of sugar season. “We adapt. We get to know our community. I think that’s the most important thing.”