The Trudeau government has not committed to closing the Roxham Road border crossing, as demanded by Quebec, but assures that negotiations with the United States for a new immigration agreement are going well.
“I know that there is progress with the resources that we have put on this point [de passage] especially at the border,” said Federal Minister of Public Security Marco Mendicino during a press briefing on Wednesday.
A little earlier in the day, the Minister of Immigration of Quebec, Jean Boulet, again implored the federal level to close this irregular route that migrants take to enter Quebec. He estimates that at the current rate, 35,000 asylum seekers will show up at the border this year.
Minister Mendicino assures that Roxham Road is “a file that is very important” for his government, and says that he “always collaborates with the Legault government”.
He mentioned in particular the actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic when Ottawa had completely closed Roxham Road for about a year and a half, until November 2021. Since then, the Quebec government has periodically asked him to close this crossing. .
“So we are in the process of negotiating a new agreement with the United States to regulate the movement of asylum seekers,” added Mr. Mendicino. It is a process that is part of a strategy to defend the rights of refugees and, at the same time, to protect everyone in Quebec. It’s a balance, but it’s important. »
Ottawa is renegotiating the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States, an agreement which currently provides that refugees must apply in the first of the two countries in which they have arrived. This encourages asylum seekers not to present themselves at the regular border posts, where they would be turned back.
“We have porous borders, and it seems that’s where the majority of drugs and guns come in. [au pays]. If we want to limit the arrival of all these illegal drugs and weapons, we need to invest more in our points of entry and secure Roxham Road,” reacted Conservative MP Raquel Dancho, spokesperson for her party in matters of public safety.