New Agreement Between Biden And Trudeau Aims To Curb Irregular Immigrant Border Crossings

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new accord to modify the existing Safe Third Country agreement between the United States and Canada as part of Biden’s two-day visit to Ottawa. The existing Safe Third Country agreement requires refugee claimants to make their claims in the first country they arrive in to prevent them from “forum shopping” by passing through the U.S. or Canada on route to making a claim in the other country. However, migrants have been sidestepping the requirements of the existing agreement by avoiding official ports of entry and instead entering at unofficial border crossings. Irregular border crossing migrants have been a source of concern for both countries, and they have aggravated tensions between leaders at the state and provincial levels with federal leaders as migrants have been shuttled around in both countries to accommodate their needs on arrival.

The Statistics

The statistics show the magnitude of the problem. According to a news report from Canada’s CBC television network last year almost 40,000 migrants entered the country through Roxham Road, a crossing in northern New York State that borders on Canada’s Province of Quebec. The Roxham Road problem was particularly acute when President Trump was in power since many undocumented immigrants in the U.S. crossed to Canada to avoid Trump’s deportation efforts. It continues to be a problem even today.

More recently, Republicans in northern border states have also raised concerns about the number of unlawful migrants crossing southbound into the U.S. from Canada. 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.

Particulars Of The Agreement

Nonetheless, the discussions between the two leaders have led to the modification agreed to on Biden’s trip. The new modified Safe Third Country agreement will allow the two countries to return migrants who have made irregular entries at unofficial border points back to the U.S. or Canada as may be the case. For example, in the case of Roxham Road migrants, they will now be returned to the U.S. provided they are caught within 14 days of arrival. Similarly, until now Mexicans could fly into Canada without a visa and then could irregularly cross into the U.S. on the northern border. Under the new agreement, such Mexicans will be returned to Canada from the U.S. if caught within 14 days of entry.

As part of the agreement, Canada is also expected to announce 15,000 slots for migrants from the Western Hemisphere to apply to enter the country legally, according to a Los Angeles Times article. This development parallels a similar initiative the United States recently announced in which some 30,000 slots will be made available each month for migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua to apply for parole to enter the country and that could lead to claims for refugee status in the U.S.

Supreme Court Of Canada Ruling

The new Safe Third Country agreement could still be impacted by a decision yet to be published by the Supreme Court of Canada dealing with its legality. In that case, a Canadian lower court judge ruled in 2020 that the deal violates the Canadian constitution on the argument that sending asylum seekers back to the United States would deprive them of life, liberty, and security — a tenant of Canada’s charter. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada late last year with federal government arguments that the U.S. immigration system is “fair and just” and that the law should stand. The decision will determine whether Canada’s highest court considers the asylum process in the U.S. to be humane enough to merit the expulsion of migrants from Canada for disposition by U.S. authorities. Speculation based on how the Justices reacted to arguments before the court has been that the court will uphold the agreement.

Assuming all goes well, the new agreement between the United States and Canada is expected to be a significant step toward curbing irregular border crossings. According to the two leaders, it will help ensure that those who seek asylum do so in a safe and orderly manner and the agreement will enable the two countries to better manage their shared border.

For Biden – Only A Beginning

For Biden, however, the agreement is only one step in a larger effort. He believes that 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, in part by helping to stabilize the current bedlam in Haiti, for example.