Canada and the United States are close to an agreement that would allow border officials to turn back any migrant who recently crossed the border irregularly to the neighboring country, Le Devoir learned.
The new agreement must therefore grant the 8,900-kilometer shared border the same status as at official crossings under the Safe Third Countries Agreement. In return, Canada has committed to taking in 15,000 more people on a regular basis, confirmed Le Devoir, a person close to negotiations within the Canadian government.
According to the agreement signed between the two countries in 2002, if a person arrives by land at an official port of entry to apply for asylum, they will be sent back to the neighboring country. The omission of irregular entry points currently allows people crossing other locations such as Roxham Road to seek asylum in Canada.
The new agreement therefore does not target Roxham Road specifically and only, but expands the references to all irregular junctions, including this now famous road.
Two weeks after the crossing
Under the new deal, which the same government source says must come into effect “very quickly,” Canada would then have the power to turn any asylum seeker who entered the land border irregularly back to the United States, and vice versa. Anyone intercepted in the first 14 days after passing through an unauthorized location will be removed.
In Ottawa, the first confirmation came from someone we didn’t suspect: “I think that’s very good news,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos hastily confirmed on Thursday afternoon when asked by journalists. “I understand that there will be clarifications quickly,” added the MP for Quebec, claiming to know the content of the agreement.
Discussions have accelerated recently, according to Mr. Duclos: “A lot of things have been able to be done more quickly in the last few weeks”, in anticipation of President Biden’s visit.
Officially, the Canadian government said Thursday “encouraged by signals from the United States”. Discussions have made progress and more details are expected after Friday’s meetings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted this week. “Perhaps we have something to announce,” he told the parliamentary press.
Lots of expectations
As US President Joe Biden landed in Ottawa on Thursday night, the pressure to strike a new deal has been mounting in recent weeks.
Our The Roxham Road in Questions series
Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser also spoke to the media on Wednesday and stressed that both countries believe in an orderly border while pursuing “friendly immigration policies for those fleeing violence, war or persecution”.
Quebec Premier François Legault has been calling for Roxham Road to be “closed” for months. He reiterated his demands Thursday, noting that transferring asylum seekers outside the province was not enough.
In 2022, 39,171 asylum seekers were intercepted on this irregular passage, accounting for two-thirds of all applications in Quebec. Claims at Roxham Road also accounted for 42% of the total Canadian claims.
Crossings in the opposite direction, from Canada to the United States, have also increased in recent months. The American Border Patrol recently expressed concern, claiming to have intercepted 367 people between Quebec and Vermont in January alone. “Despite freezing temperatures, the Swanton area continues to intercept families with young children, including babies,” the patrol wrote in February.
The death of Fritznel Richard in January drew attention to this other phenomenon. This 44-year-old man of Haitian descent was attempting to join family members in the United States after applying for asylum in Canada. He died of hypothermia near Roxham Road.
An approach to be defined
At the beginning of the evening, Quebec remained cautious and, like several observers, did not want to comment on the announcement for the time being.
“I think that from a political point of view Justin Trudeau can use the agreement as a victory. Finding a solution to what happened at the border was part of his campaign pledge,” notes Mireille Paquet, associate professor of immigration policy at Concordia University.
The content still needs to be analyzed, she says, but the political scientist has already expressed doubts about the possibility of controlling the entire border. “Make no mistake, the arrivals will not stop. We will face new decisions, in particular about the selection of 15,000 people, if this detail is confirmed,” she says.
The director of the Observatory for the United States of the Raoul Dandurand Chair, Frédérick Gagnon, said he was also awaiting further details and said he was “surprised that there was an agreement”. “Biden is very cautious about borders in general and migration issues,” he said.
While the southern border is fueling much debate in the United States, he risks “appearing soft or appearing to be compromising with neighbors,” he continues.
In fiscal year 2021-2022, more than 2.7 million people were intercepted at the US-Mexico border. Asylum seekers who moved to Roxham in 2022 make up 1.4% of that total.
“It will be interesting to see how the news is perceived on American soil,” Mr Gagnon said.
Last January, the United States announced that it would accept 30,000 people a month from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti. Mexico commits to doing the same.