O CANADA, WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 002079

SENSITIVE, SIPDIS

NSC FOR O'REILLY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS PREL PREF ECON PGOV SMIG MX EZ CA

SUBJECT: O CANADA, WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On July 13, 2009, Canada announced that it will
implement a visa requirement on travelers from Mexico and the Czech
Republic, effective at 12:01 am, July 17. The putative reason,
according to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is to quell the flow
of applicants from both countries seeking political asylum who
reside in Canada at the expense of Canadian taxpayers while waiting
for the adjudication of their applications. The Czech Republic has
already recalled its ambassador and imposed visa requirements on
Canadian diplomats and "businessmen." Mexican reaction has been
less acerbic, although many media and local sources have suggested
that the change is an indirect U.S. immigration policy carried out
by its all-too-willing northern neighbors. END SUMMARY.

LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN ... FREE OF CHARGE
--------------


2. (SBU) The imposition of visa requirements on Mexican and Czech
political refugees has a clear economic motive, as the cost of each
political asylum seeker to Canadian taxpayers is estimated at 30,293
USD per annum. According to Canadian officials, while Mexican
asylum seekers comprise 25% of all refugee claimants in Canada, only
10 - 11% of this applicant pool are eventually approved. Once an
immigrant claims refugee status in Canada, he is eligible for all
public benefits, including welfare and work authorization; refugee
claims can take up to two years to process. (NOTE: No data is
available on the percentage of Czech applicants who were approved
during this same time period, but they are predominantly of Roma
extraction claiming persecution. Since the requirements for Czech
visas were abolished in 2007, about 2000 applicants have sought
asylum. END NOTE.) By the time the claims are adjudicated and
denied the immigrant has often already established ties in Canada
(spouse, children, etc.) that allow him to stay in Canada using
other methods.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK ... OR WHAT THEY SAID
--------------


3. (SBU) While many media sources have assumed that the more than
10,000 Mexicans seeking political asylum in 2008 were fleeing
drug-related violence, the applicants themselves provided a very
different reason. According to a Canadian government source, the
majority of the Mexican refugees were seeking asylum on the basis of
persecution due to sexual orientation. Roma have been historically
subject to systematic racial persecution in Eastern Europe, but
homosexuals in Mexico are not generally victims of sustained
society-wide persecution tacitly sanctioned by authorities.
Canadian officials stated to ConOff that the coupling of Mexico and
the Czech Republic was intended to mitigate any charges of prejudice
against one particular country.

APPLICATIONS AS SLOW AS MAPLE SYRUP
--------------


4. (SBU) The Mexican government reaction was measured, but negative.
In a press release on this matter, Mexico's Foreign Ministry
officially expressed the government's regret over the policy change
and was quick to blame organizations engaged in smuggling as well as
the Canadian government's own bureaucracy. According to the Mexican
Foreign Ministry's press release, these organizations "have taken
advantage of the lag time in Canadian political asylum applications,
whose excessive prolongation provided an attractive means to
facilitate illegitimate cases." Akin to smuggling organizations
aiming to deliver willing and paying Mexicans across the U.S.
border, according to Mexican government officials, these
Canadian-based groups are allegedly responsible for the vast
majority of all the fraud committed, as evidenced by the fact that
"ninety percent of the cases are rejected." Official government
sources say they will continue to try to amend the measure, as well
as crack down on said smuggling organizations.

SRE's Assistant Director of the Office of Canadian Affairs Deyanira
Granda Almanza told PolOff that it had been taken somewhat by
surprise with GOC announcement of the visa requirement. [NOTE: A
Canadian Embassy source told ConOff, the Mexican government was not
warned in advance of this announcement. END NOTE.] She conveyed
frustration that the GOC had allowed for such a short window for
implementation - essentially four days - noting the inconvenience
experienced by Mexicans who already made plans to travel to Canada
after July 17 and now needed to obtain a visa. According to the
press, the GOC proved unwilling to extend the implementation date in
response to GOM appeals. Granda signaled Mexico presently did not
plan to implement a reciprocal visa requirement on Canadians seeking
to visit Mexico and was not aware if Mexico planned to raise this

MEXICO 00002079 002 OF 002


issue at the upcoming North American Summit.

Mexican politicians took a stronger line in speaking to the new
requirement. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Head of
the Senate Political Coordination Committee, Manlio Fabio Beltrones
suggested that Canadians be required to get visas for Mexico, while
a senior member of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD),
Carlos Navarrete spoke for many of his compatriots when he termed
the measure "anti-Mexican."

NO SPANISH, NO WARNING ... THE AMERICANS MUST BE BEHIND IT
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) Reactions from the media and public indicate frustration
and suggest United States complicity in the decision. Citizenship
and Immigration Canada (CIC) has been working to increase processing
capacity in Mexico City by adding fourteen Canadian diplomats on
temporary assignment. Application fees run about 69 USD per single
entry visa and 138 USD for multiple entries, and with few
exceptions, the Canadians are not interviewing applicants. CIC
plans on expanding its operations to include 60 more locally-engaged
staff, as well as hiring a service center to help processing.
Mexican nationals who have visited the Canadian chancery in Mexico
City in the last couple of days have complained of the short notice,
"officials who do not speak Spanish" and a certain amount of,
"mistreatment [of] and disdain" for the applicants. Others point
out that when Brazil and Ecuador decided on similar measures in 2005
a five-week run-up to the implementation of visa requirements
attenuated any possible pushback. The Canadian government is also
asking Mexican visa applicants to provide health and police
certificates, ostensibly to prove that they neither have a
communicable disease nor a criminal record, restrictions that strike
locals as somewhat severe. Some Mexican media outlets have implied
that the United States had a hand in implementing this policy, and
used its influence with its northern neighbor for its own good.

(LESS) NORTHERN EXPOSURE
--------------


6. (SBU) COMMENT: This "July surprise" will clearly fuel the
short-term tensions between Canada and Mexico, just three weeks
before Prime Minister Harper travels to Guadalajara for the North
American Leaders Summit. Ultimately, however, it could improve
Canadian-U.S. border security. USG has long been aware that
numerous Mexican nationals have benefitted from Canada's lack of
tourist visa requirements to cross into and assume residence in the
U.S. illegally. While an uptick in Mexican visa applications to the
United States is not expected, suspicion regarding the U.S. role in
Canada's decision will persist over the coming weeks despite our
public guidance that this is a bilateral affair between two
sovereign countries. END COMMENT.

FEELEY