Migrant Rights Network, Canada’s largest cross-county coalition of migrant-led organizations, on March 23 condemned “the unprincipled and dangerous decision to close Roxham Road,” which migrants travel to enter Canada from the U.S.
Details of the agreement were expected to be unveiled on March 24 during President Biden’s visit to Canada.
Closing Roxham Road “will only force migrants to take even more dangerous routes because the Safe Third Country Agreement and other immigration laws do not allow migrants more dignified or safer ways of crossing to travel or seek asylum in either country, a right that is protected under international law,” the coalition said in a news release. “We call on Prime Minister Trudeau to end the Safe Third Country Agreement, to ensure migrants can safely cross the US-Canada border, and to ensure equal rights through permanent resident status for all migrants.”
The United States and Canada “have reached an agreement that will allow both countries to divert asylum seekers from their borders at a time when migration has surged across the hemisphere, a U.S. official familiar with the agreement said Thursday.” the New York Times reported on March 23. The deal will allow Canada to turn back immigrants at Roxham Road, the newspaper reported.
“In exchange, Canada has agreed to provide a new, legal refugee program for 15,000 migrants who are fleeing violence, persecution and economic devastation in South and Central America, the official said, lessening the pressure of illegal crossings into the United States from Mexico,” wrote New York Times reporters Michael Shear and Ian Austen.
The Immigration and Refugee News Digest 