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108-643: Under the agreement, persons seeking refugee status must make their claim in the first country in which they arrive, between either the United States or Canada, unless they qualify for an exception. For example, refugee claimants who are citizens of a country other than the United States who arrive from the US at the Canada–United States land border can only pursue their refugee claims in Canada if they meet an exception under

216-473: A Francophone society, and while Quebec's culture does feature a strong cultural prejudice in favor of pure laine ("pure wool") white French Canadians, most concern about immigrants in the province has been directed at those from a Muslim background. By August 2017, when as many as 400 refugees a day were crossing via Roxham, Canadian immigration authorities, and the RCMP, had erected temporary tents (replaced by

324-504: A cul-de-sac at the Canadian border , 0.6 mi (1 km) from its southern terminus. Large boulders and a gate obstruct vehicular passage, signage indicates in English and French that the road is closed and pedestrian traffic prohibited, and a tall pole with a light and monitoring station used by the U.S. Border Patrol . In the border vista there is a stone obelisk marking the border and

432-518: A "crisis" with his January tweet he had been either unable or unwilling to substantially address. On the prime minister's left, the New Democratic Party called for the government to withdraw from the STCA. Its immigration critic, Jenny Kwan , wrote to then- immigration minister Ahmed Hussen , arguing that not only had U.S. refugee policy never been equivalent to Canada's in the protection it offered,

540-624: A Thai freighter, the MV Sun Sea , was intercepted in Canadian waters off the coast of British Columbia with nearly 500 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from their country's civil war , less than a year after another, smaller ship, the Ocean Lady had brought several dozen. The total between the two ships amounted to fewer immigrants than Canada admits legally every day, but the federal government, under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper , detained all

648-479: A claim, the system creates what Keller describes as a perverse incentive for an applicant to somehow get to Canada and then make their claim: "[A] refugee claim made on Canadian soil is a backdoor way for an economic migrant to spend a few years, possibly many years, legally working in Canada." The Canadian populace and government thus often has a negative response to any reports of significant attempts by immigrants to enter Canada outside official channels. In 2010,

756-436: A dead end in both directions at the border. Until March 25, 2023, Roxham Road was a key "irregular" border crossing for persons who were in the United States and wished to apply for asylum in Canada. This was because of a "loophole" in the " Safe Third Country Agreement " between Canada and the United States that did not provide for the return to the United States of persons claiming asylum in Canada if they entered Canada at

864-448: A larger share of refugees crossing the border at the end of Roxham. Some had been living in the U.S. for a year or more and grown frustrated at a lack of job opportunities, but many had come to the U.S. on tourist visas, flown into New York City, and then gone directly to Roxham Road, sometimes by flying, taking the bus or train to Plattsburgh, New York , the nearest city, and sometimes paying taxi or ridesharing drivers to take them all

972-436: A metal strip. Short gravel paths on either side of the barricades cross the border. Jersey barriers , augmented by similar no-crossing signage, across the road block vehicle passage on the Canadian side as Roxham, now signed Rang Roxham as required by Quebec law mandating the use of only French on most traffic signs, resumes its course. On the west is a wide cul-de-sac for vehicles to turn around and also provides access to

1080-532: A month later, who went further, suggesting an actual wall at the site for a few years. On Canada Day 2017, members of the Quebec far-right groups La Meute and Storm Alliance , who had been discreetly observing the crossings for some time beforehand, staged a small protest at the Canadian side of Roxham Road, arguing that members of terrorist groups and criminals were being allowed into Canada there. A smaller group of pro-migrant protestors counterdemonstrated , with

1188-586: A nearby encampment to live while they awaited the results of initial security checks. Following that, they were housed in Montreal, either at Olympic Stadium or a former hospital, while their claims were pending before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). In 2017, 15,915, or 77 percent of the total 20,593 asylum applicants who made their requests after an irregular border crossing came via Roxham Road. The third quarter of 2017—July through September—saw

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1296-525: A party caucus session that a fence should be built at the site. "We have the best known irregular road in the world," he complained. "We have several good fence builders in Quebec, so we're spoiled for choice." He suggested it could be paid for by "the Mexicans", a joking reference to the similar barrier being built by the Trump administration on the U.S.-Mexico border . All the province's other party heads condemned

1404-407: A place other than an official border crossing. Beginning in 2017, more than 90 percent of those who irregularly entered Canada seeking asylum did so via Roxham Road, making it a metonym for the complications of Canada's immigration policies. Housing the asylum seekers required building facilities at the border, a camp nearby (and then in Montreal's Olympic Stadium ) at considerable expense to

1512-610: A private house. This left an 11 km (6.8 mi) gap along the border between ports of entry, between the busy Blackpool crossing of I-87 and A-15 to the east and the Mooers–Hemmingford Border Crossing on the west. Roxham Road was barricaded in both directions at the border in the 1970s. The U.S. Border Patrol had begun putting gates up at some unguarded crossings along the 174-mile (280 km) land border in New York and Vermont to inhibit smuggling early in

1620-616: A shared driveway for several houses. To deal with the influx of irregular migrants in the late 2010s, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police paved the cul-de-sac and erected two temporary structures on it to process them. The former customs station, now a private home, is located on the east side of Roxham 60 m (200 ft) north of the border. The road continues north through more wooded areas and fields for 750 metres (2,460 ft) to its first intersection, with Chemin Fisher on

1728-514: A small customs station just north of the border; the U.S. never followed suit, leaving Roxham an uncontrolled border crossing, even after Canada closed its customs station in the 1950s. That ended when Canadian authorities decided, in advance of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal , to barricade all the uncontrolled land border crossings between Quebec and New York, as well as the neighboring U.S. state of Vermont . Since then Roxham has officially been

1836-513: A smuggling industry. One group of migrants was moved to seek asylum in Canada because of Trump's actions: Haitians . After the 2010 earthquake there, the Obama administration granted Haitian nationals living in the U.S. temporary protected status (TPS), under which they did not have to worry about visa expirations and could bring family members to the U.S. from Haiti. The Obama administration reviewed, and renewed, Haitian TPS every 18 months for

1944-598: A snowbank; another woman from their country was found dead in the snow a half-mile (800 m) south of the border. Many of those who crossed at Roxham in 2016 came to Canada fleeing armed conflict elsewhere in the world, the RCMP officers who apprehended them said. Others, including Chadians and Eritreans , had been expelled from Saudi Arabia after finding themselves unemployed there and did not want to return to their homelands, where they might have to render military service. Sudan , Syria and Yemen , all riven by domestic conflict, also accounted for many seeking asylum. In

2052-545: A steel-sided building in 2018) at the crossing to shelter workers and process refugees. On the U.S. side traffic cones were placed at the east side of the cul-de-sac to create a queue and dropoff area. A level path had been built across the vista so those crossing it did not have to walk through water that sometimes had accumulated there, and a small culvert built underneath it. In October, the Toronto Star reported that irregular entrants at Roxham had been required to fill out

2160-551: A suspension of the agreement, while the Green Party of Canada voiced support for suspending the agreement. Ahmed Hussen , speaking as Canada's Minister of IRCC , claimed that the conditions of the Safe Third Country Agreement continued to be met. The governing Liberal Party of Canada did not communicate any plans or intentions to suspend the agreement. Safe third country agreements are not explicitly mentioned in

2268-482: A three-page questionnaire that asked, in addition to relevant questions about criminal history, possible terror group connections, and how and why they got there, questions about their religious beliefs and practice, such as whether they or their wives wore Islamic female garments like a hijab , chador or niqab , and how they might feel about working for a woman, questions that some applicants found unnecessary and intrusive. Canadian Muslim activists alleged that it

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2376-487: A young man, went to Miami , home to 200,000 Haitian expatriates , to make the same plea. He reminded Haitians there that only half of those seeking asylum in Canada ultimately received it, and that the Canadian government was not only willing to deport unsuccessful claimants, it had already done so. "It's important to tell them that before they sell their things, before they take any kind of decision [to come]", he said. "They have to know full well what can happen." Following

2484-573: Is a real issue and they need to help us address the issue of Nigerian nationals abusing the visa system to come to Canada and claiming asylum." He warned that only 10 percent of the Nigerians who had crossed at Roxham had been granted asylum (at the same time it was also reported that the acceptance rate for Nigerians was 33.5 percent). After returning he said the talks had gone well, that American consular officials had become more rigorous in their screening and that Nigerian officials had been willing to get

2592-508: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to "life, liberty, and security of the person." As when enforcing STCA, the refugees returning to the US are detained and imprisoned there, which is a “foreseeable” consequence of Canada's actions. The decision was suspended for six months to allow time for the Parliament of Canada to respond by changing legislation or for the government to appeal

2700-659: The Canadian Council of Churches to question the constitutionality of the Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement . According to the CCR, the agreement would result in increased illegal immigration and people smuggling . The structure of the organization is based on membership. An organization must be a Canadian non-profit in order to join, while individuals can join as non-voting Associate Members. With over 200 member organizations,

2808-666: The New Democratic Party (NDP), proposed an emergency debate on "President Trump's ban on immigration and travel from seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa." During the debate, the NDP called on the government to immediately suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement, citing that "Canada can no longer have confidence that the American refugee system is providing a safe haven for those who face persecution." The Official Opposition Conservative Party of Canada stated that they would not oppose

2916-507: The Parti Québécois , had also raised questions about the province's capacity to absorb the refugee influx, but had not gone as far as Legault had in calling for a more restrictive border policy. But in April 2018, as it was reported that the amount of refugees crossing at Roxham had increased by 2,000 over the same period the preceding year, its leader, Jean-François Lisée , told reporters before

3024-498: The People's Mujahedin of Iran . The CCR argued that, starting in January 2003, refugees became far less likely to show up for their asylum hearings , when Canadian officials stopped asking the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to guarantee that these refugees would not be arrested . Towards the end of 2005, the CCR became part of a coalition with Amnesty International and

3132-531: The Salvadoran gang MS-13 had been able to enter Canada via Roxham, and called for the country to withdraw from the UN's Global Compact for Migration and renegotiate the STCA to apply to the entire border, not just ports of entry. Rempel, his party's critic on the issue, had already suggested in 2018 that Canada declare its entire border to be a port of entry, a solution that was criticized as not only incapable of solving

3240-762: The recent violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia , suggested the U.S. was even less safe for non-white refugees. Politicians in Quebec also raised complaints. François Legault , then leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), said in August 2017 that the federal government was being "completely irresponsible" and allowing the border to become a "sieve". Quebec premier Philippe Couillard criticized Legault's calls for tighter border controls as intemperate, saying they demonstrated "a sheer lack of leadership." Quebec's Official Opposition,

3348-582: The 17th and 18th centuries, but the hamlet of Roxham only began to develop at the beginning of the 19th century with the emigration of American Loyalists who would not renounce their allegiance to the British crown after the Revolution ended in independence for the Thirteen Colonies . Many of them found the land in today's Roxham very productive, producing 30 bushels of wheat per acre. They took their grain to

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3456-779: The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees . Instead, their legality is derived from Article 31 of the 1951 convention, which states that a refugee should not be punished for illegally entering a country if they are arriving directly from a country where they were under threat. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) itself has cautioned against interpreting safe third country agreements too broadly, though it acknowledges that they may be acceptable in some circumstances. Such ambiguities have led some legal professionals in Canada to question

3564-447: The 28,000 irregular crossers had been removed from Canada. In October 2018 Quebec held provincial elections . The CAQ, previously the third-strongest party in the provincial legislature , won a majority of its 125 seats, consigning Couillard's ruling Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) to the opposition, and in turn the former opposition Parti Quebecois to a mere 10 seats, its worst performance since 1970 when it had first gained seats. It

3672-431: The 7,585, or 42 percent, from Nigeria. Haitians dropped to 585, roughly a tenth of their 2017 total; the planned revocation of TPS late in 2017 was stayed pending litigation and almost a year later a U.S. federal judge enjoined the Trump administration from doing so. Over a thousand Colombians entered at Roxham, as well. The IRB accepted 3,307 of the applicants who crossed irregularly, improving its rate to 16 percent of

3780-628: The CCR, refugee services should focus on mental health . In 1978, known at the time as the Standing Conference of Canadian Organizations Concerned for Refugees, the organization was composed of approximately 100 refugee advocacy groups . Before the 2001 September 11 attacks in the US, the CCR issued a statement claiming that there was a disproportionate amount of immigration security provisions applied to particular refugee communities, including Kurds , Sri Lankan Tamils , Palestinians , Sikhs , people from Algeria , and people associated with

3888-407: The Canadian government, and led to anti-immigration groups protesting near the border crossing. Under a 2022 change to the agreement that took effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 25, 2023, that is no longer the case for most ( though not all ) such persons who make such a claim within 14 days of entry into Canada. The 2023 implementation of this "protocol" amending the agreement was seen as likely to stem

3996-555: The Charter, but sent the case back to Federal Court for review of whether it might violate section 15. Roxham Road Roxham Road ( French : chemin Roxham ) is a 5-mile (8.0 km) rural road from the former hamlet of Perry Mills in the town of Champlain, New York , United States, generally north to the vicinity of the former hamlet of Bogton, in the municipality of Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec , Canada. It has existed since

4104-575: The Council has members in all of Canada's provinces (excluding territories). The CCR holds biannual consultations, the results of which are published on their website library. Each consultation, taking place over three days, has a specific focus. In the consultation of fall 2016, titled "Welcoming Diversity," the CCR published their support for Bill C-6 (titled an Act to amend the Citizenship Act and make consequential amendments to another Act ), which

4212-510: The RCMP and Sûreté du Québec keeping the two groups apart. By May 2018, two more such protests had been held, with the location shifting to the encampment nearer Lacolle and both sides attracting more supporters; Canadian activist Jaggi Singh was arrested and charged with assault on an officer at those protests after he led a group of demonstrators onto the A-15 near the Montée Guay interchange with

4320-419: The Safe Third Country Agreement. In March 2023, the Safe Third Country Agreement was updated to enact tougher immigration policies, especially with regards to asylum seekers and border crossing at 'irregular' border crossings like Roxham Road . The STCA has faced challenges in the Canadian courts alleging that Canada's participation violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . After success for

4428-583: The Toronto city government. Facing an election campaign late in 2019, the Liberal government took some actions. Early in the year a woman was charged in Quebec with organizing illegal entry into Canada for compensation at Roxham Road. Two months later, the government included a provision in its annual budget bill intended to partially address the flow of refugees to Roxham Road and other irregular border crossings. It barred anyone with an asylum claim pending in any of

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4536-473: The Trump administration's immigration policies , it began, according to Queen's University researcher Christian Leuprecht, during Barack Obama 's first term as U.S. president, when deportations increased. During 2015, residents of Roxham Road, on both sides of the border, first noticed refugees using their street to enter Canada and request asylum. About 350 came the following year, driven by fears that Donald Trump would be elected U.S. president and implement

4644-493: The U.S. side residents said that taxis came up the road at all hours. As at Emerson, the harsh winter weather was a challenge for refugees from tropical climates, who did not always obtain sufficient clothing. A Sri Lankan man had lost some extremities to frostbite, an RCMP officer recalled. The CBC comedy sketch show This Hour Has 22 Minutes parodied the coverage, with its actors playing RCMP constables apprehending both Hillary Clinton , former U.S. First Lady and loser of

4752-478: The U.S. to get to Canada, began entering Canada via Roxham in order to seek political asylum there. Later, immigrants began coming to the United States specifically to make the crossing at Roxham and apply for asylum in Canada, leading to criticism of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's government for its apparent failure to enforce Canadian immigration law. In 2023, the Roxham crossing was closed permanently. During

4860-442: The U.S. until their case is handled, and may file an asylum application. Differences in the way the U.S. and Canada treat those who cross their borders unofficially make the latter country attractive to refugees. University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin , who specializes in Canadian immigration law , notes that American federal law makes any crossing by an alien at anywhere other than an official crossing point, or under

4968-441: The U.S. was granting 10 percent fewer tourist visas to Nigerians. Border Patrol officers, whose jurisdiction extends to 100 miles (160 km) south of the border, do check the paperwork of any refugees they encounter in the vicinity, but can only apprehend those who cannot show proof their presence in the U.S. is legal. At the border, when present, they routinely warn refugees that whatever paperwork they have that allows them into

5076-494: The U.S. will be void once they cross, whatever happens on the Canadian side. The flow of refugees across the border at Roxham Road became a political problem for Trudeau as his critics and opponents suggested his government was being too permissive and had lost control of the situation. Michelle Rempel Garner , official Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship critic for the Conservative opposition , suggested Trudeau had created

5184-529: The U.S.) instigated a legal challenge of the U.S.'s claim as a third safe country for refugees seeking asylum. This legal challenge was supported by prominent figures such as Judge Michael Phelan of the Federal Court of Canada on November 29, 2007, and many others. Canada's Federal Court ruled on July 22, 2020, that the Safe Third Country Agreement was invalid because it infringes on the rights of asylum seekers, specifically rights guaranteed under section 7 of

5292-636: The U.S., the Border Patrol augmented this with electronic surveillance equipment. At some time since the early 1990s, the U.S. segment of the road was paved. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks , Canada and the U.S. worked together to improve border security. Among many agreements signed was the Safe Third Country Agreement , (CUSTCA, more commonly just STCA) stipulating that refugees coming to either country must apply for asylum in

5400-741: The U.S., while the U.S. will also be able to turn back asylum seekers who travel across the border from Canada. In return, Canada agreed to allow 15,000 more people from the Western Hemisphere to migrate to Canada legally. Nevertheless, the revision is acknowledged to have limited the movement of asylum seekers. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that the revisions would go into effect that midnight. Shortly after inauguration , U.S. President Donald Trump signed these Executive Orders, which have since been revoked by his successor, Joe Biden : In response to Executive Order 13769, immigrant and civil-rights advocacy groups in Canada called for

5508-516: The UN Convention on Refugees as he might have been. So I spent a little time explaining how the asylum-seeking system works and how our system is supposed to operate," remarks that Lisa MacLeod , Ford's Minister of Children, Community and Social Services , termed "disrespectful" on the Prime Minister's part. The federal government allocated $ 11 million of the $ 50 million it had offered Ontario to

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5616-439: The US, they would not be sent back if they cross at locations in between designated ports of entry ; in this case, their claims will be heard, and many immigration experts consider this to be a loophole within the agreement. On March 24, 2023, the U.S. and Canada revised the asylum seeker policy. Under the revision, Canada will be allowed to send migrants who cross at unofficial ports of entry at America's northern border back to

5724-431: The United States at Canada-United States land border crossings (including by rail). It also applies at airports if a person who is seeking refugee protection in country B was determined not to be a refugee in country A, and is in transit through country B as part of their deportation . For example, a refugee claimant in Canada who has been determined not to be a refugee in the United States, has been ordered deported from

5832-416: The United States since early 2017. Roxham Road was shut down months after the expansion of the STCA in 2023. On the Canadian side, the STCA has been challenged on the grounds that lack of safety laws to protect refugees in the United States gives refugees legitimate grounds to cross over to Canada for a better life. On December 29, 2005, a group of refugee and human-rights organizations (both in Canada &

5940-508: The United States, and is in transit through a Canadian airport as part of their removal from the United States. Exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement are defined as four types: In addition to meeting the criteria for an exception under the agreement, refugee claimants must still meet all other eligibility criteria of the relevant immigration legislation for the country that they are claiming status in. Though refugee claimants who enter Canada at official crossings are usually sent back to

6048-561: The United States. At risk of refoulement due to his status being rendered illegal in the US, the court applicants claimed that the US was therefore not a "Safe Third Country" and that "[t]he United States' policies and practices do not meet the conditions set down for authorizing Canada to enter into a STCA. The U.S. does not meet the Refugee Convention requirements nor the Convention Against Torture prohibition." Though,

6156-425: The agreement applies only to those who present themselves at official ports of entry . Should they cross the border anywhere else, they would be entering unlawfully as long as they did not go to the nearest border crossing and present themselves to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) personnel for inspection and processing. Those taken into custody before reaching a border station are detained, cannot be returned to

6264-522: The agreement were repealed. From January 2017 to March 2018, the RCMP intercepted 25,645 people crossing the border into Canada outside official border checkpoints . Roxham Road near the route between Plattsburgh, New York and Montreal saw the most crossings and became a proxy name for this trend. Public Safety Canada estimates another 2,500 came across in April 2018 for a total at just over 28,000. As of early 2019, over 40,000 people crossed into Canada from

6372-472: The asylum seekers and began building criminal cases against most of them to deter future immigrants from attempting irregular entry, even as it also began processing their asylum applications. By 2017 only one person involved had been convicted, against seven acquittals, and holdings in other cases made further prosecutions unlikely. While the use of Roxham and other irregular border crossings into Canada by refugees seeking asylum there would later be blamed on

6480-404: The border by the early 20th century. The U.S. did not reciprocate, even as the advent of Prohibition in the 1920s created a large market for illegal alcoholic beverages which bootleggers and rumrunners served, making use of the many unguarded roads across the border, such as Roxham, often at night. In the 1950s the Canadian government closed the customs station; it has since been repurposed as

6588-517: The border, refugees increased, particularly in Emerson, Manitoba , where they used a former port of entry, now closed , to enter Canada from Noyes, Minnesota . Others crossed open fields, sometimes suffering permanent injury or death from hypothermia in the severe Great Plains winter weather. Two Ghanaian refugees' frostbitten fingers had to be amputated after they spent a night at temperatures around −20 °C (−4 °F) buried to their waists in

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6696-535: The border. This loophole was closed after the expansion of the STCA in 2023 which made asylum seekers not eligible to make an asylum claim within 14 days of entering Canada from the US along the land border. Julie Taub, an immigration and refugee lawyer, claims that, since the introduction of the Agreement in late 2004, the Canada Border Services Agency has lost its capacity and would be "overwhelmed" if

6804-887: The challengers in Federal Court in 2020, but overturn in the Federal Court of Appeal , in June 2023 the Supreme Court of Canada found no violation of section 7 of the Charter, but sent the case back to Federal Court for review of whether it might violate section 15 . The agreement was signed on December 5, 2002, in Washington, D.C. by Bertin Côté ( Deputy Head of Mission , Embassy of Canada ) and Arthur E. Dewey ( Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration , U.S. Department of State ). The Safe Third Country Agreement applies to refugee claimants who are seeking entry to Canada or

6912-437: The cooperation of the governments of Quebec and Toronto with the federal government on the issue, said they would get more money. Later in the year, Quebec got $ 250 million. Ontario proved to be more difficult. In mid-2018 newly elected Progressive Conservative premier Doug Ford announced the provincial government was withdrawing its support for the more than 3,000 refugees temporarily housed in Toronto, since "this mess

7020-477: The decade. Canada barricaded all uncontrolled crossings on its side as part of security operations supporting the 1976 Summer Olympics , fearful that terrorists like those who had killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics could do something similar in Montreal, where the Games were held, and then quickly escape across the border. During the 1980s, when illegal migration primarily took place from Canada into

7128-418: The decision. The decision was stayed again on October 26, 2020, by the Federal Court of Appeal to allow time to hear the case. The appeal was granted by the Federal Court of Appeal in April 2021, overturning the earlier Federal Court decision and upholding the STCA as constitutional. On June 16, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada found that Canada's participation in the agreement did not violate section 7 of

7236-443: The direction of immigration officials, a criminal offense with fines and imprisonment as possible punishments. In Canada, while such a border crossing can carry similar penalties it is only an administrative violation of the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations , and then only if the defendant has not reported to a customs station "without delay" or did not intend to. "Since almost all irregular border crossers enter in

7344-549: The early 19th century, before the Canada–United States border was formally established along the 45th parallel north between the St. Lawrence and Connecticut rivers. For most of its length it is a rural two-lane blacktop ; north of Parc Safari , it is also part of Quebec Route 202 . For most of its history, it was possible to freely cross the border via Roxham Road, since it largely carried local traffic. Canada established

7452-570: The example of Dubourg's trip to Miami the year before, in May 2018 Hussen, who had himself come to Canada in his youth as a Somali refugee , went to Nigeria to speak with American diplomats and government officials there and get the message to Nigerians that Roxham Road was not the path to asylum in Canada. At a news conference prior to his departure, accompanied by Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale , Hussen stressed that "[w]e value our relationship with Nigeria but this

7560-476: The farming community where it gets its name, then passes the Parc Safari entrance. Bordering the park, Roxham Road ends 900 m (3,000 ft) north of the entrance, where Route 202 joins it from the west and continues the course of Roxham northeast beyond the intersection. There had been scattered European settlement of the area through which Roxham Road runs by both British and French colonists throughout

7668-820: The federal government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement. These groups included Amnesty International , the Canadian Civil Liberties Association , the Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l'immigration , the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association , the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Canadian Council for Refugees , and a group of 200 law professors from universities across Canada. On January 30, 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) critic Jenny Kwan , of

7776-583: The first nine months of 2016 Canada granted asylum to 62 percent of those crossing the border irregularly. Trump won that year's U.S. presidential election and was inaugurated on January 20, 2017 . A week later he had issued Executive Order 13769 making good on his campaign promises to restrict immigration, banning all travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for the next 90 days, suspending new refugee admissions for 120 days and admissions for those from Syria indefinitely. The following day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , who had personally greeted

7884-498: The first of 25,000 Syrian refugees at Toronto Pearson International Airport within a month of assuming the post, tweeted : "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada ". Shortly afterward the media reported that crossings at Roxham Road had increased. One February morning the Montreal Gazette counted 19 before 10 a.m.; on

7992-443: The first one they reach. It was generally seen at the time it was signed in 2002 as being sought primarily by Canada, to prevent refugees from "asylum-shopping". In 2004 it came into force and the amount of asylum applications to Canada began to drop; three years later a Canadian Federal Court ruled the treaty unconstitutional , on the basis that U.S. law did not offer the same protections as Canada for applicants, but that decision

8100-457: The first safe country they arrive in, unless they qualify for an exception to the Agreement." In the case of Canadian Council for Refugees, et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen , the CCR, along with the Canadian Council of Churches , Amnesty International , three NGOs and a John Doe , collectively took the Canadian government to Federal Court after a Colombian national was denied refugee status in

8208-474: The growth that had taken place since 2017 (other than during the pandemic shutdown of March 2020 to November 2021 ) of Roxham Road being the entry point into Canada of large numbers of persons seeking asylum status. Some of those individuals had been awaiting a decision on their immigration status in the U.S. and feared a negative outcome due to stricter immigration policies of Donald Trump's presidential administration , but many had just briefly passed through

8316-404: The hamlet of Perry Mills, the first intersection along North Star, 700 feet (210 m) west of where it forks off from Perry Mills Road ( Clinton County Route 17 ). A minor paved road, Roxham heads due north for 400 feet (120 m), then veers northwest, passing through fields and wooded areas interspersed with homes. A half-mile (800 m) from the turn to the northwest, the road reaches

8424-535: The intent of blocking traffic, an action which delayed the arrival of the far-right protesters. After an August 2017 protest over Roxham Road in Quebec City , Trudeau, while reiterating that Canada welcomes refugees, reminded those seeking to come that Canada is "also a country of laws" and exhorted asylum seekers to go through the formal legal process by applying overseas before coming to Canada. Haitian Canadian MP Emmanuel Dubourg , who himself had come to Canada as

8532-459: The largest number of claims for any quarter the IRB has been tracking claims from those who cross irregularly, with 8,559. The largest nationality represented at Roxham was Haitians, with 5,785 crossers, 36.3 percent of the total at that location. Of the 17,632 claims the IRB reports receiving that year from irregular entrants, it only accepted 1,140, or 6.4 percent. In 2018 Nigerians began to make up

8640-505: The legality of the Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement. As of February 2017, increasing numbers of refugee claimants began to cross the Canadian border at locations other than official border checkpoints . This is in order to avoid the effects of the agreement, any refugees presenting at a border crossing would be automatically turned back to the United States under the STCA provisions. As it

8748-430: The message out that those wishing to emigrate to Canada should whenever possible go through official channels. "There is misinformation being directed toward some Nigerian nationals, and they are being told that going to Canada and crossing the border is a free ticket", he said. The Nigerians had also promised to issue new travel documents so that unsuccessful claimants could be deported there; at that time only 1 percent of

8856-602: The mode of a refugee's entry into Canada cannot be held against them if they are found to have had well-founded fears of persecution in their homeland. Asylum claimants already on Canadian soil also benefit from case law holding that the Canadian Constitution 's Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires that their claims of danger to life and safety should they be returned to their homeland after denial of their applications be fully adjudicated before any decisions can be made about that course of action. This gives claimants

8964-462: The nearest mill, in Champlain, to be ground. A later Canadian history of that time records that the road from Roxham was first able to handle wheeled vehicles in 1810. By 1838 the population along the road had grown enough that a small cemetery was established along it in the town of Champlain. The road, along its current course but unnamed, is shown on an 1856 map of Clinton County . By this time it

9072-498: The only parties compensated. In mid-2018 the federal government had offered Manitoba, Ontario (where many of the non-Francophone refugee claimants preferred to resettle ) and Quebec $ 50 million each to offset the cost of supporting asylum seekers; at the beginning of 2019 it made $ 115 million available to provincial and local governments to cover refugees' temporary housing costs. Ontario and Quebec said that by that point they had spent $ 200 and $ 300 million each by then. Trudeau, praising

9180-528: The other four Five Eyes countries Canada shares intelligence with—Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.—from applying for asylum in Canada. The intent was to frustrate "country shopping", Blair said. "If people are pursuing their claims in the United States, we wanted them to understand that they should stay there, because that's a safe place, and to pursue their claim in that place." The statute came into effect that June. Opposition leader Andrew Scheer regularly said that irregular entrants were "jumping

9288-589: The presence of the RCMP," writes Macklin, "and the RCMP immediately detain and transfer them to a CBSA officer at a nearby port of entry for examination, these border crossers have not violated ... the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations ". Since most refugees are taken to customs after being taken into custody soon after their border crossing, they may not have even broken the law, and thus crossings such as those at Roxham Road are referred to as "irregular" entries. Any prosecutions of those who enter Canada that way and then apply for asylum are deferred until

9396-415: The previous year's presidential election, and current First Lady Melania Trump , who had supposedly attempted the crossing for the third time in a week. Canadian immigration activists, along with some normally apolitical residents on the U.S. side of Roxham, blamed Trump, his actions and his rhetoric for the increase in crossings, although one of those at the crossing involved in transporting or processing

9504-593: The problem but capable of creating others. Canadian Council for Refugees The Canadian Council for Refugees ( CCR ; formerly known as the Standing Conference of Canadian Organizations Concerned about/for/with Refugees ) is a Montreal -based non-governmental organization that critiques the Government of Canada 's public policy regarding refugee settlement and determination, and provides consultation to Canadian immigration authorities. According to

9612-526: The process is finished, including appeals. A sign at the border on Roxham since 2018 advises entrants that it is not a legal point of entry into Canada and those who insist on crossing there will be arrested. Also, Canada, like the U.S., is signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees . Unlike the U.S., it has incorporated the Convention's provisions into its Immigration and Refugee Protection Act . One of those provisions provides that

9720-399: The queue" and "gaming the system" at the expense of lawful applicants. Hussen responded that Scheer was indulging in "the same sort of extreme right wing anti-immigration rhetoric that has become pervasive among right-wing populist parties around the world." Scheer had said he based that claim on letters he had read from refugees applying for asylum in Canada from camps abroad wondering how it

9828-403: The refugees said that some refugees had traveled to Roxham Road directly from New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The activists in particular said the crossings demonstrated issues they had had with the STCA since its ratification: that by allowing refugee claims at irregular entry points like Roxham Road, it put refugees at risk for their safety and encouraged the rise of

9936-547: The remainder of his presidential term. But even before Trump announced in 2017 that his administration might not be renewing Haitian TPS the following year, Haitians who had been hoping for green cards and permanent-resident status, decided they could not wait, and went to Roxham Road to cross into Canada and apply for asylum. It has been estimated that 7.5 percent of the Haitians living in the U.S. with TPS chose to seek refugee status in Canada by entering irregularly. In May 2018 it

10044-693: The right of appeal not only administratively, to the Refugee Appeal Division, but beyond that to the courts. Refugees applying from outside Canada do not have recourse to that extensive appeals process. While waiting for their claims to be resolved, refugees in Quebec receive significant benefits. They can work in addition to collecting a stipend of $ C 600 a month, receive free health care, free French lessons, and have their children educated in public school, albeit in French as Quebec mandates for immigrants. Since it often takes several years to fully resolve

10152-424: The stricter immigration policies he was advocating. The earliest often continued down Roxham, asking any residents they saw if they were indeed in Canada, and while the first likely entered Canada undetected, later migrants were met by RCMP officers which took them into custody for the possibly illegal border crossing. By the end of the year the RCMP presence at the border cul-de-sac was continuous. Elsewhere along

10260-489: The suggestion, as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , which called it "legally and morally wrong". Lisée later qualified his remarks by suggesting a line of trees or a police presence would be sufficient; after being reminded he had used the word "fence" he said one like those found around schools would be sufficient. His proposal was echoed by Toronto Sun columnist Anthony Furey

10368-428: The time it was widely used as an unofficial border crossing, more than 100,000 asylum seekers passed through it. In both countries, Roxham runs generally north-south. Its southern portions pass through mostly wooded lands, which give way to farmland after Route 202 joins it north of Parc Safari . Roxham Road begins in the northwest corner of the town of Champlain , at a three-way intersection with North Star Road in

10476-434: The total. Late in 2018 the Canadian government began compensating the residents along Roxham near the border for all the disruption to their neighborhood. One woman who owns a 200-acre (81 ha) farm about a kilometer from the crossing received $ 25,000. She and 44 other residents in the area eventually split $ 405,000, the individual payments based on how close they lived to the border. The Roxham Road residents were not

10584-410: The way there, a distance of 350 miles (560 km) one way and almost six hours' uninterrupted driving time from Kennedy Airport. Canadian authorities eventually began pressuring their U.S. counterparts to more diligently screen Nigerian visa applicants; the U.S. began revoking visas of those Nigerians it found had come there for the sole purpose of attempting to enter Canada irregularly, and by 2019

10692-445: The west. North of Chemin Fisher, the road is designated as Chemin Roxham. Another 750 metres (2,460 ft) to the north at a T-intersection, it reaches Montée Glass, which runs east towards Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle and the southernmost exit on Quebec's Autoroute 15 (A-15), the continuation of Interstate 87 (I-87) connecting New York City and Montreal . Roxham continues north for another 300 m (980 ft), and enters

10800-483: Was 100 percent the result of the federal government" and had created a housing crisis in the city. Ford's timing put the federal government in a difficult position, since some of the refugees were housed in college dormitories that had to be available for students before the end of the summer. Trudeau, after meeting with Ford, said that "it didn't seem to me that the Premier was quite as aware of our international obligations to

10908-467: Was also, like other back roads crossing the border in the area, used by agents of the Underground Railroad to guide escaped enslaved Blacks to freedom—North Star Road, at the southern terminus of Roxham, is said to have gotten its name from the lore among escapees to look for Polaris in the night sky as a guide to which way was north. Canada established a customs station on Roxham just north of

11016-496: Was in turn overturned by an appeals court on procedural grounds. Under the STCA, any prospective refugee who does not have an application for asylum already pending in Canada will be refused admission to the country if they enter from the U.S. Those refugees would then have to return to the U.S., where their attempt to exit would nullify any application process they had begun for asylum in the U.S. and lead to their detention pending deportation as illegal aliens. But this provision of

11124-535: Was introduced by the Liberal Party of Canada in the summer of 2017. Bill C-6 made significant amendments to Canada's Citizen Act , and made access to Canadian citizenship easier. In 2005, the CCR challenged the Canadian government 's Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States , which came into effect in 2004. The Agreement stipulates that "refugee claimants are required to request refugee protection in

11232-619: Was not illegal under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or its associated regulations to cross the border outside of a port of entry as long as the person presented themselves to a Canada Border Services Agency officer without delay and STCA did not apply to claims outside of a port of entry, it was possible for persons otherwise ineligible to make a claim after crossing irregularly. In some cases, these refugees have received amputations due to frostbite and concerns have been raised that some refugees may freeze to death on their way across

11340-435: Was part of a pattern of Islamophobic behavior by law enforcement . The RCMP explained that it had been developed from an interview guide developed for the officers at Roxham and would be immediately discontinued as "inappropriate and inconsistent with government policy." Later the RCMP agreed to redact the answers to those questions from digital copies of those questionnaires. After refugees' initial entry, they were taken to

11448-423: Was reported that only 9.5 percent of the Haitians who had crossed into Canada irregularly had had their asylum claims accepted. The Haitians were attracted to Quebec, and Montreal specifically , as a destination for resettlement since Haitians, most fleeing the "Papa Doc" Duvalier dictatorship, had emigrated there since the early 1960s, and spoke well of the city to others. They could assimilate more easily into

11556-694: Was that people just walking into Canada could legitimately apply for asylum when they would not be able to enter until their applications were approved. It was pointed out that applicants abroad are primarily processed by the UN, not IRBC, so the irregular entrants were not tying up bureaucratic resources, so there was no queue to jump. Scheer's Conservatives and the country's other parties began making their immigration and border policy proposals known. He said in an October speech at Roxham that Trudeau had created this problem and yet done nothing to address it in two years. The Conservatives would, by contrast, hire 250 more CBSA officers. He expressed concern that members of

11664-524: Was the first election in Quebec since then to return a party other than the QLP or PQ to power, and like that Union Nationale government it was right-of-center. Legault and the CAQ had run in part on his promise to reduce immigration to the province. For 2018, the IRB reported 20,607 total asylum applications from irregular entrants. Of those, 18,215, or 88 percent, came via Roxham Road. The largest portion that year were

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