US, Canada End Asylum-Seeker Loophole  03/25 09:45

   U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on 
Friday announced a plan to close a loophole to an immigration agreement that 
has allowed thousands of asylum-seeking immigrants to move between the two 
countries along a back road linking New York state to the Canadian province of 
Quebec.

   ST. JOHNSBURY, Vermont (AP) -- U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime 
Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a plan to close a loophole to an 
immigration agreement that has allowed thousands of asylum-seeking immigrants 
to move between the two countries along a back road linking New York state to 
the Canadian province of Quebec.

   So many migrants since early 2017 have walked into Canada on Roxham Road 
outside Champlain, New York, that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police staffed a 
reception center to process them, less than five miles (8 kilometers) from the 
official border crossing.

   Mounties have warned the migrants at the end of the narrow two-lane road 
bordered by forests and farm fields that they would be arrested if they crossed 
the border. But once on Canadian soil, they have been allowed to stay and 
pursue asylum cases that can take years to resolve.

   The new policy says that asylum seekers without U.S. or Canadian citizenship 
who are caught within 14 days of crossing anywhere along the 3,145-mile 
(5,061-kilometer) border will be sent back. That includes people walking on 
Roxham Road.

   The deal was set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday -- a quick 
implementation aimed at avoiding a surge of refugee claimants trying to cross, 
according to Canadian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss 
the deal in advance.

   Some of the last migrants to make it through before the Biden-Trudeau 
announcement were about eight people in two families -- one from Haiti, the 
other from Afghanistan -- who arrived at the U.S. end of Roxham Road just after 
dawn on Friday. Both said they took circuitous routes to get there.

   Gerson Solay, 28, carried his daughter Bianca up to the border. He said he 
didn't have the proper documents to remain in the United States. "That is why 
Canada is my last destination," he said before he was taken into custody for 
processing.

   It's unclear how Roxham Road became a favorite route, but it's just a taxi 
ride from where Interstate 87 approaches the Canadian border, and for 
southbound migrants, it's a relatively short distance to New York City.

   These migrants have taken advantage of a quirk in a 2002 agreement between 
the U.S. and Canada that says asylum seekers must apply in the first country 
they arrive in. Migrants who go to an official Canadian crossing are returned 
to the U.S. and told to apply there. But those who reach Canadian soil 
somewhere other than a port of entry -- like the center near Roxham Road -- are 
allowed to stay and request protection.

   The agreement was immediately criticized by some who feel it could endanger 
the safety of asylum seekers by preventing them from getting needed support 
from both governments.

   "We urge President Biden to strongly reconsider this deal and to work with 
Congress to restore access to asylum and support policies that recognize the 
dignity of all those arriving at our borders," said Danilo Zak, associate 
director for policy and advocacy for the humanitarian group CWS, also known as 
Church World Services. The organization advocates for people across the world 
who have been forced from their homes.

   The agreement comes as the U.S. Border Patrol responds to a steep increase 
in illegal southbound crossings along the wide-open Canadian border. Nearly all 
happen in northern New York and Vermont along the stretch of border nearest 
Canada's two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal.

   While the numbers are still tiny compared to the U.S.-Mexico border, it's 
happening so frequently now that the Border Patrol increased its staffing in 
the region and has begun releasing some migrants into Vermont with a future 
date to appear before immigration authorities.

   As part of the deal, Canada also agreed to allow 15,000 migrants from the 
Western Hemisphere to seek asylum on a humanitarian basis over the course of 
the year.

   Meanwhile, southbound migrants are straining U.S. border officials.

   U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped migrants entering illegally from Canada 
628 times in February, more than five times the same period a year earlier. 
Those numbers pale compared to migrants entering from Mexico -- where they were 
stopped more than 220,000 times in December alone -- but it is still a massive 
change in percentage terms.

   In the Border Patrol's Swanton Sector, which stretches across New Hampshire, 
Vermont and a portion of upstate New York, agents stopped migrants 418 times in 
February, up more than 10 times from a year earlier. About half entering from 
Canada have been Mexicans, who can fly visa-free to Canada from Mexico.

   About an hour south of the border, the police chief in St. Johnsbury, 
Vermont, population 6,000, alerted state officials that the Border Patrol had 
dropped off a vanload of immigrants with just a few minutes notice at the 
community's welcome center. The same thing happened several times before within 
the last few weeks.

   In a statement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the migrants dropped 
off in St. Johnsbury had been apprehended along the border after entering the 
U.S. without authorization, and were given a notice to appear for later 
immigration proceedings.

   They were dropped off in St. Johnsbury because it has a station where 
migrants can take a bus to a larger city.

   "In such circumstances, USBP works in tandem with local communities to 
ensure the safety of all parties--both community members and migrants--and to 
ensure stability in the community's resources," the statement said.

   But local officials said they weren't given time to prepare. State officials 
are now working to set up a system to provide migrants services they might 
require.

   On Thursday, a Haitian couple and their children, boys aged 17 and 9 and a 
15-year-old girl, were dropped off at the welcome center. The family, who did 
not want to give their names, wanted to take a bus to Miami.

   They said they'd been in Canada for two months, but wouldn't talk about what 
prompted them to keep moving.

   They missed the Thursday bus that would allow them to connect to a bus to 
Boston, where they could catch another bus to Miami. A team of local volunteers 
spent the day getting them something to eat, finding them a place to stay the 
night and arranging for them to take the bus on Friday.

   Police chief Tim Page said St. Johnsbury wants to help these migrants, but 
not on the fly.

   "We need to get something down so we know what we are going to do when these 
families arrive," he said. "We don't have a system set yet, so when we do I am 
sure this will all go a little smoother."