The fact that New York City is sending migrants to the US border is “surprising,” Quebec Immigration Minister Christine Frechette told reporters on Tuesday.
She said that it highlighted the need to "solve the problem of Roxham Road," referring to an unofficial border crossing south of Montreal used by thousands of asylum seekers every year.
"I think it makes the urgency of the situation even more apparent," Frechette noted, adding that Canada and the US were negotiating to update the Safe Third Country Agreement.
The document, which was signed in 2002, stipulates that migrants should make an asylum claim in the first country they enter, whether it is the US or Canada. But it only applies at official border crossings, which Roxham Road is not. The loophole allows refugees arriving from New York to have their asylum cases heard by Canadian immigration authorities.
12 November 2022, 14:14 GMT
Frechette’s remarks came after New York City Mayor Eric Adams told a US media outlet that his administration was assisting migrants who had been sent to his city but wanted to go elsewhere.
"Some want to go to Canada, some want to go to warmer states, and we are there for them as they continue to move on with their pursuit of this dream," Adams said.
He confirmed that the city was providing free bus tickets for migrants, adding, “If they are seeking to go somewhere else, we are helping in the reticketing process."
He spoke as a US newspaper reported that migrants in New York City are being given free bus tickets to Plattsburgh, New York state, about 20 miles (32 km) south of the Canadian border, from where they pay taxis and shuttles to take them to Quebec.
This was preceded by Adams admitting last month that there was "no room in New York" for the migrants. According to him, his city has welcomed 40,000 asylum seekers since last spring, providing them with food, shelter, and other resources.
"We are at our breaking point. Based off our projections, we anticipate being unable to continue sheltering arriving asylum seekers on our own and have submitted an emergency mutual aid request to the State of New York,” Adams said at the time.
He also lashed out at the Biden administration, saying that "now is the time for the national government to do its job" about the immigration crisis at the US southern border.
In early January, US President Joe Biden arrived in El Paso, Texas to tour the southern border amid record-breaking numbers of migrants illegally entering the US since he took office. The visit was preceded by POTUS’ repeated pledges to visit the area and references to him having other things to do.
According to US Customs and Border Protection data, the number of undocumented immigrant crossings at the country’s southern border for fiscal year 2022 topped 2.76 million - more than twice the 2019 figure, four times as many as in 2020, and a 41% increase over 2021.