Government working to end Roxham Road border access for irregular migrants, PM says | CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is working on closing the irregular border crossing at Roxham Road — but only through renegotiating the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States.

“The problem is we have 6,000 kilometres worth of undefended shared border with the United States … People will choose to cross elsewhere,” Trudeau told a news conference Wednesday. 

“The only way to effectively shut down not just Roxham Road but the entire border to these irregular crossings is to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement.”

The agreement governs asylum claims between Canada and the United States. Roxham Road is not an official border crossing; an influx of irregular migrants entering Canada at the site has prompted Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to call on the government to close it as a point of access.

In an open letter published in the Globe and Mail Tuesday, Legault said the refugee claims are pushing Quebec social services to their limits and the situation is raising humanitarian concerns.

Poilievre said Tuesday the government should come up with a plan to shut off access to Canada through Roxham Road within a month.

But Trudeau dismissed any suggestion that the crossing could be closed by anything but a renegotiated Safe Third Country Agreement.

“Could somebody put up barricades and a big wall? Yes. If Pierre Poilievre wants to build a wall at Roxham Road, someone could do that,” Trudeau said.

“People can toss out simplistic solutions. That’s their right. But if someone wants to seriously solve the problem, you’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and do the work, as we are.”

Negotiations between Canada and the United States on the agreement are ongoing. Trudeau did not say when the two sides are expected to wrap up the talks but said the government is “making real progress.”

The agreement, signed in 2002, says migrants must submit their asylum applications in the first of the two countries they enter. The agreement does not apply to irregular crossing points like Roxham Road.

WATCH | Feds to help alleviate ‘unique pressures’ Quebec is facing from asylum seekers

Feds to help alleviate ‘unique pressures’ Quebec is facing from asylum seekers

“The premier does raise some legitimate concerns around the unique pressures that Quebec is facing,” Immigration and Refugees Minister Sean Fraser told Power & Politics Tuesday.

Approximately 39,000 people sought asylum in Canada by crossing at Roxham Road last year, Legault said in a letter to Trudeau last week.

In the same letter, Legault called on the government to help Quebec send some of the migrants to other provinces. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser said in an interview with CBC’s Power & Politics Tuesday that the government is working with other provinces to alleviate the pressures on Quebec by setting up temporary accommodations for migrants.

Trudeau said Wednesday that Quebec has been “stepping up significantly” by supporting irregular migrants.