To all this, you might be wondering: Why can Spanish nationals, based in the developed, allied, European Union, claim asylum in Canada in the first place? Well, in short, we allow anyone from anywhere to submit asylum claims, including democracies with functional, accountable justice systems. Since 2020, we’ve had claims from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Claims are just the first step to becoming a protected person who is permitted to stay in Canada, and many of those from western countries will be rejected. But even this is a problem: asylum seekers in the queue receive all sorts of social supports and take up capacity in our courts, health-care systems and schools. Even those whom we send back will cost us greatly.