alternatehistory.com

Mexico is an emerging market that while suffering some recent economic setbacks, isn't a third world basket case that most Americans probably think it is. So most illegal immigrants from Mexico (and there are a lot from the rest of Latin America, not just that country) are not an accurate representation of all Mexicans.

So could a similar situation have happened with indigent underclass migrants leaving the U.S. for Canada?

How about inner city African-Americans? There's been a long history of blacks fleeing the U.S. to Canada, as early as the Revolutionary War (if not earlier). So either the civil rights movement goes south, coupled with worse economic situations in the U.S., leads to more black emigration to Canada. And once things go badly enough, illegal emigration follows.
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