(Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle) The only noises perceptible at the end of Roxham Road are the sound of windswept dead leaves, supplanted from time to time by the passage of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) SUV .
Soon footsteps could be added to the picture.
Completely blocked during the pandemic, the irregular passage used by asylum seekers resumed service on Sunday since the federal government lifted the ban on it the day before.
Immigration lawyer Stéphane Handfield received messages from clients on Monday telling him that family members had crossed the border to make a refugee claim at Roxham Road.
“It’s started,” he said.
Me Handfield notes that many asylum seekers could arrive over the next few days, although he doubts the influx will be as large as what has been seen in the few years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic.
TO [l’]At the time, Donald Trump announced the non-renewal of hundreds of thousands of work permits, among others for Haitians and Salvadorians. People were stopped when they left work, at home… In this context, Roxham Road was seen as a lifeline. [Aujourd’hui], we are not in the same situation.
Me Stéphane Handfield, lawyer specializing in immigration
François Devette, who lives in a farmhouse on Roxham Road, says he has noticed very little activity on the path for a year.
“Before the pandemic, we saw three or four vans pass a day,” he says.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
François Devette lives near Roxham Road.
He notes that nurses have recently been hired in the area to be assigned to Roxham’s post, possibly to perform COVID-19 testing. “It’s a sign that they expect to receive more people than we have seen for a year,” he said.
Vans or not, Mr. Devette notes that the place where he raises horses and sheep is quiet. “It’s the countryside here. It’s quiet. Even when there were a lot of asylum seekers down the road, I can’t say it bothered me on a daily basis. ”
Roxham road bypassed
It must be said that asylum seekers did not completely stop crossing the border during the COVID-19 crisis. Instead of going through the RCMP station at Roxham Road, they went elsewhere in Montérégie, possibly in the woods, to enter Canada, notes Mr.e Handfield.
We know that. People don’t say where they’ve been [pendant que le passage au chemin Roxham était interdit]. What we do not know is the extent of the phenomenon.
Me Stephane Handfield
Since the start of the health crisis in March 2020, federal authorities have banned migrants from crossing the border at Roxham Road. It is this ban which is now lifted.
In a statement, the federal immigration ministry noted that “all asylum seekers must comply with strict public health measures, including quarantine and testing requirements.”
A manufactured crisis
According to the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States, migrants must apply for refugee status in the first safe country they reach, but many did not want to do so in the United States. Canada agrees to process requests from people who are already on its territory. For this reason, migrants enter through an irregular route – Roxham Road – and immediately apply for refugee status.
There, they were arrested by the RCMP, before being investigated and taken by bus to Montreal. Some join family, sleep in places of reception, or then continue their journey to Ontario, or beyond.
According to Me Stéphane Handfield, as long as the Safe Third Country Agreement is in effect, asylum seekers will continue to cross the border irregularly in Montérégie.
“They do it so that their request is considered admissible,” he said. In addition, they have the right to appeal if their request is refused, whereas they do not have the right to do so with a regular request. So the government created an incentive. The government has been told for years to change its positions on the safe third country agreement, but it is not moving, so that’s what it is. ”
90%
Proportion of the 20,593 migrants who entered Canada irregularly in 2017 who did so via Roxham Road, in Montérégie
Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police