Crossing...

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. Cots are set up in the windowless, domed facility. The mainly Haitian migrants will stay until they get government financial assistance.

Francine Dupuis, head of a Quebec government-funded program that helps asylum seekers, said 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 devastating earthquake. As many as 60,000 Haitians in the United States could be sent back to their homeland.

Dupuis said the YMCA and shelters are already full. She said the stadium has agreed to house up to 450 people for a few months but can't take more because they have other activities at the stadium.
She said her organization had usually been able to deal with an influx of migrants but the numbers now are unprecedented.