Chair, I think we're on our third meeting now.
Briefly, I want to make sure I put this on the record.
The next time we have either Minister Miller or Minister LeBlanc before the committee, or someone from the RCMP, Public Safety Canada or immigration officials, I will be raising the question of the matter of....
It's relevant to this specifically because it's been in the news, the way Ms. Kwan has talked about it. The Globe and Mail reported last week that a Jordanian national who illegally crossed into Canada in 2017, stayed here, applied for refugee status, was rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board, and overstayed for several years. He then crossed illegally into the United States, was apprehended by border patrol and then was deported back to Jordan. He had turned out to be a known terrorist and was on a terrorist watch list. This was reported last week.
I want to make sure that all the agencies know—because I know they'll be paying attention—that I will be asking questions about it when they appear before the committee on this motion or any other motion. I will ask them how it can be that someone who's on a terrorist watch list in the United States, and presumably on our watch lists.... This is a security issue. It's about our immigration system. It's about the security of our system. How can it be that someone who is also rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board would then be allowed to stay for so many years, only to be apprehended in the United States and then deported to their country of origin?
To me, that's a big failure of our security system. It adds to the concerns that American officials will have that we don't seem to be able to control our border. Furthermore, this person had crossed illegally into Canada in 2017 and then crossed the entire country, presumably. From what I've been told, he crossed illegally into Canada across one of the states into the province of Quebec, then found himself all the way in British Columbia and then crossed back. I want to make sure the officials know that I will be raising the matter because I think it's of national interest and it is in the public interest.
The Minister of Immigration, when he made comments on it publicly, said that there were privacy reasons for not releasing information related to the case. This person is a foreign national. He has no privacy rights. In fact, he was rejected by the IRB. Moreover, he was deported by the Americans to his country of origin. It's in the public interest to disclose the particulars of that case, so the public is assured that all the agencies did whatever they could to stop this individual and to try to catch this individual, and that he was known. At least, I would like to know if he was known to our agencies, to the public safety minister and to the immigration minister.
With that being said, Chair, I move to adjourn the debate.