Canada on 'high alert' bracing for migrants fleeing US

OTTAWA, Nov 09 (AFP): Canadian authorities said Friday they're on "high alert" with all eyes on the US border as the country braces for a possible influx of migrants from the United States.

US President-elect Donald Trump has promised the largest mass deportation in American history, accusing immigrants of "poisoning the blood of our country."

During his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, tens of thousands of migrants, including Haitians stripped of US protections, fled north to Canada.

"We're on high alert," a Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman, Sergeant Charles Poirier, told AFP.

"All of our eyes are looking at the border to see what's going to happen... because we know that Trump's stance on immigration might drive up illegal and irregular migration to Canada," he said.

In Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland met Friday with a group of ministers tasked with handling thorny issues that might emerge between Canada and the incoming Trump administration.

She sought to reassure that Canada was ready for a possible uptick in migrant arrivals. "We have a plan," she told a news conference after the meeting, without giving details.