Mr. Speaker, asylum claims are governed in part by international treaties Canada has signed on to. As such, we have a legal responsibility to assess asylum claims made under these international conventions. That is why the asylum system is fundamentally different from all other areas of immigration, and I will provide some explanations and clarifications on that.
First of all, the Canada-U.S. safe third country agreement is a treaty that was negotiated between Canada and the United States. It is premised on a principle accepted by the United Nations Refugee Agency that individuals should seek asylum in the first safe country they reach.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires the continual review of the U.S. to ensure that the conditions that led to its designation as a safe third country continue to be met. In fact, as we have pointed out on several occasions, the head of the UNHCR in Canada has indicated that the conditions that prevailed at the time of the agreement in 2004 remain the same today.
Consequently, I find it somewhat disappointing to see the NDP once again adopting the same partisan position as the Conservative Party by undermining the credibility of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which includes experts in international refugee law.
This agreement remains an important tool for Canada and the U.S. to work together on the orderly handling of refugee claims made in our countries. That being said, entering Canada illegally between designated ports of entry is dangerous and is a violation of the law. Anyone who is intercepted by the RCMP or law enforcement after crossing the border irregularly is taken before an immigration officer who conducts an examination to establish the person's identity and whether they are admissible to Canada. An initial security screening is also carried out to ensure that the person does not pose a security threat to Canada and to determine whether they are eligible to make a refugee claim.
Our government is stepping up its efforts to educate the public about how Canada's asylum system works. We are working on that in close co-operation with our missions in the United States. We are in regular contact with the communities in the United States and we are posting messages on social media, for example, in Canada and in the United States, in order to provide reliable information.
We have made it clear that entry into Canada between points of entry is not a free pass into Canada. There are very strict immigration and customs rules and we will enforce those rules to protect our communities from security risks. We have also made it clear that by entering Canada and seeking asylum, individuals risk losing their temporary protection status in the United States.
To prove how seriously we take this matter, budget 2018 provides $173.2 million in funding to border security operations at the Canada-U.S. border and asylum claims processing. This money will help make it easier for our partners to better manage the growing pressure on all aspects of the asylum system, including the interception of people, determination of eligibility for claiming asylum, Immigration and Refugee Board decisions on refugee claims, and removal of claimants.