(Hamilton) Immigration Minister Sean Fraser doubts that it will be possible to announce the outlines of a new safe third country agreement with the United States to close the loophole represented by Roxham Road during the visit of US President Joe Biden in March.
Mr. Fraser thus played down expectations about a possible formal agreement between Ottawa and Washington after his Quebec counterpart, Christine Fréchette, had expressed the hope that this file would be settled in time to coincide with the first official visit of Joe Biden since assuming the presidency.
“I expect that at the end of this meeting, we will be told that this agreement has been renegotiated, and that from now on, the agreement on safe third countries will apply to all from the border, and not just at the official crossing point, which is currently the case. It’s a flaw in the agreement,” said Minister Fréchette on Monday.
Last year, a record 39,171 asylum seekers were intercepted at Roxham Road. In December alone, 4,689 people were intercepted, a peak which also represents a 26% increase compared to November.
Questioned Tuesday before the start of the second day of the cabinet retreat in Hamilton, Mr. Fraser acknowledged that this file represents an important issue related to the Canada-US border. But he said he doesn’t expect an announcement on that during President Biden’s visit.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Sean Fraser
“We continue to work with our partners in the United States to finalize the Safe Third Country Agreement. But I don’t expect an announcement during the president’s visit. But the effort continues with my American counterpart to finalize an agreement and improve the situation at Roxham Road,” said Minister Fraser.
The minister said that this is an “important” issue, but that there are a host of other issues that fuel Canada-US relations.
Under the current agreement, only individuals who apply for asylum at an official border crossing are returned to the United States.
In December 2021, the Trudeau government quietly negotiated a new version of this agreement with the Biden administration in Washington which, once in force, would allow it to close this breach at the border.
Essentially, these amendments would give Canadian authorities the power to return a refugee claimant to the United States, regardless of whether they present themselves at an official port of entry on the Canada-United States border to make this claim or drop it off after crossing the border irregularly.
However, the Trudeau government is still waiting for the Biden administration to adopt the relevant regulations that implement the changes in question. But the Biden administration does not give the same priority to this file as the Trudeau government. It concentrates most of its efforts on plugging the gap in its border with Mexico.
“It’s not moving fast in Washington,” a liberal source recently confirmed to The Press.