By PATRICK LEJTENYI and ROB GILLIES
Published September 26, 2017
So many asylum seekers are crossing into Canada from the United States that Montreal's Olympic Stadium has been opened to house them.
The first groups were bused to the stadium Wednesday. Cots are set up in the windowless, domed facility. The mainly Haitian migrants will stay until they get government financial assistance.
The head of a Quebec government-funded program that helps asylum seekers says a maximum of 450 people will be housed temporarily. Francine Dupuis says her organization helped 448 people in June and 1,174 in July, far more than previously.
Ninety percent are Haitians. The U.S. is weighing ending a program that granted Haitians "temporary protected status" after Haiti's 2010 earthquake.
___
Associated Press writer Patrick Lejtenyi reported this story in Montreal and AP writer Rob Gillies reported from Toronto.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/canada-asylum-seekers-housed-at-montreals-olympic-stadium