According to the BBC, a new US-Canada border agreement that aims to stop the influx of asylum seekers at unauthorized border crossings has come into effect.
Anybody found trying to cross the 5,060 km (3,145 mi) border may now be deported.
Roxham Road has been used for a significant number of unauthorized crossings at the US-Canada border.
The new agreement removes a gap that previously allowed migrants to enter the country through such unauthorized ports of entry.
The news was made as President Joe Biden was in Ottawa, Canada, for talks with Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of that country, about several economic, trade, and immigration issues.
The agreement is a component of efforts to reduce the number of migrants arriving at Roxham Road, an unauthorized border crossing between the states of New York and Quebec.
Almost 40,000 immigrants, a record amount, entered Canada last year; Roxham Road saw the bulk of them.
According to the prime minister’s office, Canada would establish a new refugee program for 15,000 people who are escaping persecution and violence in South and Central America as part of the agreement.
The Safe Third Country Act is what?
The Safe Third Country Act (STCA), the original agreement from 2004, mandates that migrants file an asylum claim in the first “safe” country they arrive in, whether that be the US or Canada.
It permitted any country to turn away immigrants at legitimate entry crossings, but not at unauthorized crossing locations like Roxham Road.
The agreement has now extended to the whole border, including internal waterways, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Refugee advocates have criticized the new agreement for failing to stop immigrants from entering Canada illegally.
Abdulla Daoud, executive director of The Refugee Centre in Montreal, told the BBC on Friday that it would not deter people from leaving, but he added that he was afraid that it might encourage human smuggling.
The numbers are too low, he stated about the new refugee program. We only had 40,000 people cross in the last year, which is a low figure and only includes those from the Western Hemisphere.
