Canada and the United States have agreed to apply the Safe Third Country Agreement to the entire Canada-US border, effectively closing irregular crossings at Roxham Road and elsewhere in the country.
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In other words, asylum seekers wishing to cross the border elsewhere than at an official border crossing will be refused entry if they are intercepted within 14 days of their arrival.
Consideration
According to Los Angeles Timeswho quotes a source familiar with the matter, “Canada should announce 15,000 places for migrants from the Americas who wish to enter the country legally” in exchange for stopping irregular entries.
This news, unthinkable at the start of the week, fell a few hours before the arrival in Ottawa of US President Joe Biden on Thursday. The closure could take effect “soon”, the American daily reported.
- Listen to the interview with Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc Québécois MP for Lac-Saint-Jean and immigration critic, on QUB radio:
Last year, some 40,000 migrants took the Roxham Road northbound.
In recent months, more and more of them have gone the opposite way. US authorities intercepted nearly 3,000 people at their border with Canada.
This new phenomenon could explain the Biden administration’s greater openness to settling the Roxham Road file.
Federal Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos was delighted with this progress.
“I think this is very good news. It has been for months, I would even say for years that Mr. Trudeau and other members of the ministerial team have been working hard on this, ”said the MP for Quebec.
According to TVA Nouvelles, discussions between the Trudeau government and the Biden administration remain “very delicate” on the subject.
Negotiations with the Biden administration have remained discreet so as not to create an additional influx at the border, in view of a possible closure.
Gain for Legault
The government of François Legault has put pressure on the Trudeau government to take advantage of the visit of the American president to move the file forward.
“We have worked very hard in recent weeks to ensure that Mr. Trudeau puts this at the top of his pile in his priorities with Mr. Biden. I think it is important for Quebecers that this subject be addressed and possibly resolved, ”commented the Caquist premier a few minutes before entering the Blue Room on Thursday morning.
More recently, Ontario mayors, including that of Niagara Falls, have raised their voices to voice their dissatisfaction with the influx of migrants, a new phenomenon for them.
