Mr. Speaker, I present 12 petitions with about 400 signatures of concerned Canadians, mostly from the riding of Surrey Central.
The petitioners feel that the illegal immigrants who arrived off the coast of Vancouver are causing undue hardship for honest, bona fide refugees.
They maintain that our immigration laws encourage international people smugglers to target Canada. They call on parliament to enact immediate changes to Canada's immigration laws governing refugees. They want to provide for the deportation of those who are obviously and flagrantly abusing the system.
The petitioners want legislation that requires refugee claimants to demonstrate through identification documentation, rather than by other means, that they are fleeing general and political prosecution, or they would face immediate deportation.