The increases in US immigration raids have led many undocumented immigrants to take new measures to evade prosecution and deportation.  The New York Times reports that a number of undocumented Mexican nationals, living in the Florida area, have progressively been migrating north; the trek takes them past the northern border of the US and into Canada .  The arrivals, at least 200 in number so far, came due to a suggestion from a Naples, Fla.-based organization which last week began charging immigrants a fee for assisting with appropriate paperwork.  

The rapid influx of immigrants has Canadian officials worried.  Officials Windsor said they are overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught and don’t relish the days ahead; within a couple of days, the Canadian city has already filled a shelter with 30 immigrant men and are paying four motels to house families.  "We have no idea what we are going to do," said Maj. Wilfred Harbin, administrator for the Windsor Salvation Army.  

Eddie Francis, mayor of Windsor , contacted Canadian federal authorities for emergency funding.  "I empathize with the challenges but we don’t have the ability to manage this," Mr. Francis said.  "We have never seen anything like this."  

However, the immigrants who crossed into Canada , are at ease.  "In Florida ," said Pedro Marin "every job I got, everywhere I went, we were getting a lot of pressure from immigration.  Being illegal was always on my mind.  Now I can relax."  

Jerusalem Haitian Community Center , the organization that spearheaded the emigration, denied that they urged undocumented immigrants to seek asylum in Canada or promised that jobs would be waiting for them there.  Organization chief Jacques Sinjuste said that they merely assisted customers with completing Canadian Refugee Status Applications, and nothing more.  "We fill it out for them and that’s the end of our job," he said.  "Many people are taking the name of my organization with them when they go to Canada and saying I sent them.  But I don’t know anything about that."  

To obtain refugee status from the Refugee and Immigration Board of Canada, immigrants must show a "well founded fear of persecution" linked to their race, religion, nationality or political background.  Although Mexican immigrants who have lived in the US are permitted to seek asylum in Canada , they will be deported to Mexico if they are turned down.  

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According to The New York Times, a federal class action lawsuit was filed this week against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, alleging that they unlawfully and forcefully entered homes of Hispanic families in the New York area without court warrants – a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable searches, harming citizens of the US as well as undocumented immigrants.   

In court papers, the 15 plaintiffs describe abusive raids on their homes earlier this year by armed ICE agents.  The order seeks to prohibit ICE from conducting any further raids until the agency can develop clear guidelines to end unlawful entries.   

The hard-line approach by ICE has faced criticism, and earlier this year, the agency defended their methods.  "We would like to find fugitive aliens at 100 percent of the locations we go to, but its not an exact science," said ICE-area director Chris Shanahan.  

The lawsuit, filed by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, cites a report by Homeland Security that criticized ICE for the inaccuracy of its database of fugitives and lack of agent training.  In 2004, agency officials required that 75 percent of the fugitives of each team arrested be "criminal aliens."  This requirement was dropped in January 2006, when the goal was changed to 1,000 arrests per team.