Hidayatullah.com– US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed on Friday (3/24/2023) to close a hole in an immigration deal that used thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to enter US territory of the State of New York and on the Canadian territory of the province of Quebec. .
Thousands of migrants have since entered Canada on foot since early 2017 on Roxham Road near Champlain, New York, where Royal Canadian Mounted Police station staff at a reception center to process migrants, unless 8 kilometers from the official border crossing.
Canadian police routinely warn migrants crossing Roxham Road – a two-way street bordering forest and farmland – that they will be arrested if they cross the border. However, once on Canadian soil, they are allowed to stay and seek asylum, which can take years to process.
The new policy states that asylum seekers without US or Canadian citizenship caught within 14 days of crossing the 3,145 mile (5,061 kilometer) border will be turned away. This includes people walking on Roxham Road.
The agreement entered into force on Saturday at 00:01. The immediate implementation was aimed at preventing an increase in the number of migrants trying to cross the border, according to a Canadian official who asked not to be identified, reports Associated Press Friday (24/3/2023).
The last migrants to cross the border before the announcement of the Biden-Trudeau deal include eight people from two families, one from Haiti and one from Afghanistan. They arrived at the US end of Roxham Road just after dawn on Friday.
Gerson Solay, 28, took his daughter Bianca to the border. He admitted that he did not have the complete documents to be able to live in the United States. “That’s why Canada is my final choice,” he said before being taken to the detention center for treatment.
It is unclear how Roxham Road became a favorite route for migrants. Perhaps due to the distance that can be reached by taxi from Interstate 87 which leads to the Canadian border. For migrants looking to head south (USA), this route is relatively close to New York.
Migrants took advantage of loopholes in a 2002 agreement between the United States and Canada. According to this provision, asylum seekers must apply in the country where they first arrived. Migrants who cross into Canada’s legal border crossings will be returned to the United States and invited to seek asylum there. However, those who have successfully entered Canadian territory outside of legal entry points – such as an immigration center near Roxham Road – they will be allowed to stay in Canada and seek asylum.
The deal comes as the US Border Patrol reacts to a surge in illegal crossings south along Canada’s wide-open border. Almost all occur in upstate New York and Vermont, along the borders near Canada’s two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal.
As part of the agreement, Canada also agreed to allow 15,000 Western Hemisphere migrants to apply for humanitarian asylum throughout the year.*
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