By Jerome London

Updated 46 minutes ago, July 30, 2026

A stark contrast in immigration enforcement is drawing attention on both sides of the border, as the death toll in US custody climbs while Canadian officers describe a very different approach to the people they detain.

Border-patrolling members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from left, Cpl. Marie-Pierre Guertin, Cpl. Samuel Perreault-Magny, and Sgt. Jonathan Maheu, stand at a dead-end road on the Canadian side of the international border with the United States. Like many roads in the area, this one used to go through but was closed during a previous border crackdown, as seen on July 15, 2026. Trevor Hughes/USA TODAY

At least 53 people have died in US immigration custody under Trump. Mounties in Quebec, by contrast, have no record of ever fatally shooting a migrant.

Canadian officers recently spotted a group of migrants hiding under a tree and decided to wait rather than storm in.

“Behind our uniform and badge, we are also human,” one Mountie said of the mothers and children he arrests.

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