Irregular Border Crossings To Be Addressed By Biden, Trudeau

Preparations in Ottawa for the upcoming visit of President Biden are pretty much done and an air of anticipation has descended on Parliament Hill as he is expected to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his two-day March 23rd and 24th, 2023 visit. This will be Biden’s first visit since he was elected President and is taking place late in his term when compared to when American presidents visited Canada after being elected in the past. The delay was largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. One previous exception to the early U.S. presidential visit tradition was President Donald Trump’s trip to Canada which was not to Parliament Hill but rather to the G-7 summit held just north of Quebec City which ended unhappily with Trump labeling Trudeau, “very dishonest and weak.”

Fortunately, on this occasion, Biden and Trudeau are ideologically close and get along together very well. Biden last visited Ottawa as vice president in December 2016 in the last days of his term after President Obama’s address to Parliament that took place in June of that year. The highlight of Biden’s visit this time is expected to be his address to Parliament. Since both leaders are headed for upcoming elections in their respective countries they both need to show results from their meetings. And among the most important issues the two leaders are expected to discuss will be the topic of immigration.

Background To This Visit

Canada and the U.S. share the longest land border in the world which is close to 6,000 miles in length. At least up until when the pandemic closed the Canada-U.S. border, it was estimated that around 400,000 people crossed the border every day and there were about 800,000 Canadian citizens living in the United States in 2021. These levels of interaction are likely to return as we continue to emerge from the pandemic. What is expected to be a topic at this summit is the specific matter of “irregular migration and forced displacement throughout the region” as the White House put it.

A Parallel Immigration Problem

There is a parallel immigration problem evolving at both the southern border of the United States with Mexico and the northern border of the United States with Canada. With respect to undocumented migrants arriving in the United States from Mexico, the problem has been spreading northward through the efforts of Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas who have been busing newly arrived migrants to Washington D.C. and various northern states. In Canada, the arrival of irregular migrants through the Roxham road border crossing in Northern New York state has sufficiently burdened the Province of Quebec to the point where the migrants have been shipped to other provinces such as Ontario where they are being accommodated in hotels such as those in the Niagara Falls area. Political tensions have been exacerbated in both countries because of these developments and both leaders can expect these matters to be raised by their opponents in upcoming election debates.

Biden’s Immigration Problem

For Biden, the problem of irregular migrants needs to be addressed in the context of a broader program dealing with coordinated efforts to stem the flow of migrants northward through Mexico and dealing with the failing economies and political and criminal problems in Latin America and elsewhere. For him, the problem to be solved requires Canada to help with the coordinated effort to stem the flow of migrants northward, perhaps in part by helping to stabilize the current bedlam in Haiti, for example.

Trudeau’s Immigration Problem

For Trudeau, the problem boils down to amending the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States so migrants cannot evade its provisions by entering Canada through non-official places of entry. For him, the problem to be solved is to convince the United States to accept the return of irregular migrants who have entered Canada across unofficial spots on the border such as Roxham road.

Overlapping Problems Also

There are overlapping problems associated with these discussions.

The U.S. Perspective

In the U.S. context, there has been a growing problem of migrants from Canada crossing irregularly into the United States. Last year, almost 110,000 such migrants were encountered by U.S. officers patrolling the northern border. That set a new record. This year is on track to break that mark. However, migrant crossings along the U.S.-Canada border are still significantly lower than those along the U.S. southern border. In January, for example, Canadian authorities intercepted nearly 5,000 asylum seekers crossing unlawfully, according to government data. U.S. authorities can encounter up to 5,000 migrants a day along the U.S. southern border.

The Canadian Perspective

In Canada, there are two challenges. Firstly, some of the southern migrants bused up north by the southern governors were provided help to reach the U.S northern border to come into Canada. In other words, some U.S. leaders decided to rid their immigration migrant challenges by sending migrants north to Canada. In addition, during the Trump Presidency, there was a noticeable rise in undocumented U.S. immigrants arriving at Roxham road to escape the harsh policies of that administration.

Other Immigration Matters

All these issues need to be sorted out by the two leaders. In addition, the leaders need to talk about other immigration matters, such as NEXUS. The program has been reinstated but is not where it was before the pandemic in terms of ease of processing in Canada. Closer cooperation to establish legal pathways for migrants to come to both countries and countering xenophobia and discrimination against migrants and refugees by promoting balanced public narratives on migrants and refugees to support their meaningful inclusion in the region are also likely to be on the agenda.