Canada has clinched a deal with the US on closing the illegal border crossing of Roxham Road between New York State and the province of Quebec, a Canadian news network reported.
Under the agreement, officials on both sides of the US-Canadian border are allowed to turn back asylum seekers heading in either direction.
As part of the accord, Canada will also reportedly commit to welcoming 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere over the next year through legal channels.
The so-called "safe third country" agreement, which was forged between Ottawa and Washington twenty years ago, only applies at official border crossings, meaning that American and Canadian authorities have not been able to turn away asylum seekers who cross into each country illegally.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault had repeatedly called for closing the Roxham Road crossing, citing the growing number of migrants coming through the area.
According to the Canadian government’s estimates, about 40,000 asylum seekers crossed into Canada without authorization in 2022, the vast majority of them along the Roxham Road crossing. The US Border Patrol, in contrast, processed 3,577 migrants who crossed into America from Canada last year, government data has showed.