Wondering why Roxham Road is still open?
I offer you a brief explanation in numbers: 2.4 million and 40,000.
The first is the number of migrants intercepted by law enforcement at the Mexican border last year. The second, the number of illegal entries into Roxham Road.
Come on, let’s add one more thing: 100 million. This is the number of migrants in the world in 2022. There have never been so many, not here, not in the United States, nowhere else in the world.
In short, the US government has its hands full on its southern border. What’s happening in the Northeast is far from a priority.
A ball for Biden
Especially since what Ottawa is asking of Washington is far from paying off politically for Biden. It’s even the opposite.
The solution sought by the Trudeau administration requires the White House to accept and find a way to take back migrants who would be turned back at irregular crossings like Roxham Road.
You currently do not have this obligation.
Given the chaos on the Mexican border, it’s no wonder renegotiation of Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement has dragged on for four years.
And it would be even more surprising if Joe Biden used his visit to Canada next March to announce a new Safe Third Country Agreement.
I can’t imagine Joe Biden returning from his trip to Canada with what doesn’t seem like great news to him, which is an even larger migrant population to manage.
Quebec is good at stamping its feet, its expectations are as legitimate as they are unrealistic.
Federal Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser threw a cold shower on the CAQ’s efforts yesterday.
“We continue to work with our partners in the United States to modernize the deal, but I don’t expect an announcement [lors de la] Visit of the President [Biden] […] ‘ he dropped yesterday, a day after the release of Quebec immigration minister Christine Fréchette.
Ottawa of course
Canada and the United States are trying instead to relegate this whole story to the technocratic sphere. Behind the scenes, rules need to be refined and regulations laid down. The politician basically washes his hands off it.
It has to be said that the Trudeau government is very pleased with Roxham Road.
We prefer a safe, marked path for an RCMP officer to direct asylum seekers to the appropriate authorities.
Migrants who would also help fill labor shortages in jobs few Canadians wish to pursue.
A no-brainer for Washington that isn’t a high priority for Ottawa. Quebec preaches in the desert.
