The B.C. government is urging Ottawa to expedite deportation hearings for extortion suspects after Global News reported they had all claimed refugee status.

“If you’re involved in criminal extortion and in Canada illegally, you should be removed. It’s that simple,” B.C. solicitor general Nina Krieger said on Thursday.

The mayor of Surrey, a city that has been heavily impacted by the extortion crisis, also said she was “appalled” by the development and demanded federal action.

They were responding to a Global News report revealing that all 14 extortion suspects sent for deportation hearings had filed asylum claims.

Efforts to deport them must now wait until their refugee claims have been heard by the Immigration and Refugee Board, according to the officials.

The hurdle to deportati

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