Tumgik
#Roxham Road
allthecanadianpolitics · 10 months
Text
The governments of Quebec and New Brunswick have told the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) they will stop incarcerating migrants detained for administrative reasons, Radio-Canada/CBC has confirmed. Seven provinces have now cancelled their contracts with CBSA under which they were paid to imprison foreign nationals detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. "It is excellent news," said Montreal immigration lawyer Chantal Ianniciello, who represents many detained migrants. "It is not a place suited to their needs". Ianniciello said when migrants are cut off from the world and put in jail alongside criminals it creates "a lot of psychological stress." CBSA can detain migrants if it considers their identity is not clearly established, they are a danger to the public or they represent a flight risk. According to its own statistics, most are detained for the latter reason, meaning the border agency believes they will not appear for immigration processes such as a removal. [...]
Continue Reading.
Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid
120 notes · View notes
politicsofcanada · 1 year
Text
"A man was found dead on Wednesday near Roxham Road, a common passage between the United States and Canada used by migrants to claim asylum.
The man was a migrant who was trying to cross the unofficial border, according to police sources who spoke to Radio-Canada on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ), Quebec's provincial police force, confirmed the death on Thursday morning. The circumstances of the death remain unclear.
"We will investigate the cause of death, it will take some time," said Louis-Philippe Ruel, a spokesperson for the SQ. "We are trying to determine how he got there, where he was coming from, where he was going and who he was."
The SQ confirmed the body of the man was discovered on Wednesday afternoon between Roxham Road and the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing, about five kilometres away. Officers were using off-road vehicles, metal detectors and sniffer dogs to search an area east of Roxham Road on Thursday afternoon. 
His nationality is unknown."
Full article
53 notes · View notes
tearsofrefugees · 1 month
Text
1 note · View note
schizoid-radical · 1 year
Text
Trump’s Waco speech just praised Trudeau as a “gentleman” while he went into a rant about the border. Seems fitting in light of Roxham Road being shut off.
0 notes
fatehbaz · 11 months
Text
Within a timespan of just a couple of weeks, in March and April 2023, the United States presidential administration and its homeland security leaders have announced significant crackdowns on refugees and asylum seekers at both its northern and southern peripheries. These policy changes have been described by scholars, lawyers, doctors, and other advocates as “terrifying’, “dangerous”, “deadly”, and “inhumane”.
In the final days of March 2023, following the US president’s visit to Canada, the US and Canada have announced a major change to the Safe Third Country Agreement policy. Scholars have described the rule change as one that will effectively deny refugee or asylum status to many people crossing the border along the entire continent, from Atlantic to Pacific. Meanwhile, in early April 2023, a trilateral statement/agreement was announced by the leaders of the US, Colombia, and Panama, as the nations describe their intent to discourage refugee travel through the notoriously horrific Darien Gap,
---
About the US-Canada border. Excerpt:
Others have not survived. On March 31 [2023], two families perished at the Quebec-US border, including an infant and a three-year-old. [...] Why aren’t people going to official ports of  entry? The answer is that the law, specifically the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the US and Canada, deters people from using official border entry points because they will be turned away and denied the opportunity to make a refugee claim. Canada has acknowledged these crossings by erecting pop-up border  stations like one at Roxham Road, facilitating the movement of migrants. Quebec’s premier and main opposition leader have called for this makeshift port of entry to be shut down. And now, as part of US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Canada, the two countries have decided to do just that, under a renegotiated STCA that came into effect starting midnight on Friday, March 24 [2023]. Now anyone crossing any point of the Canada-US land border to make a refugee claim will be turned away. They will not be able to make a refugee claim and will be sent back to the US side of the border. Until now, this agreement only applied at official land ports of entry which pushed people seeking asylum to cross at unofficial points [...]. The newly expanded STCA now applies across the entire Canada-US land border, including areas between official ports of entry and certain bodies of water. Anyone making an asylum claim within 14 days of crossing without authorisation or valid immigration status will be brought back to a US port of entry and excluded from being able to make a claim in Canada. [...] Advocates argued that the agreement not only infringes migrants’ rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but also violates Canada’s international legal obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention [...].
Text by: Jamie Liew, Petra Molnar, and Julie Young. “The new US-Canada border deal is inhumane - and deadly.” Al Jazeera. 19 April 2023. Liew is a lawyer and associate professor at University of Ottawa. Molnar is associate director of the Refugee Law Lab. Young is Canada Research Chair in Critical Border Studies at University of Lethbridge.
---
More on the US-Canada border. Excerpt:
“The United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement,” US President Joe Biden said during an address to the Canadian parliament in Ottawa on Friday afternoon. But human rights groups said the move will not deter refugees and asylum seekers [...] but instead will push them to take riskier routes. [...] “This is very dangerous,” said Frantz Andre, spokesperson and coordinator of [...] a Montreal-based group that provides support for asylum seekers and others without immigration status. [...] Why is this happening now? Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under political pressure domestically to respond to an increase in crossings, particularly from conservative politicians in Quebec [...].
Text by: Jillian Kestler-D’Amour. “What the new US-Canada border deal means for asylum seekers.” Al Jazeera. 24 March 2023.
---
The US, Colombia, and Panama announcement about the Darien Gap. Excerpt:
A US-backed plan to stop migrants from crossing the [...] Darién Gap will likely fail [...], migration experts have warned. The US Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday [11 April 2023] that it had brokered a deal with the Colombian and Panamanian governments to halt migrants crossing the land bridge on their journey northward to the US. The number of people traversing the lawless strip of land between Colombia and Panama has spiked to record numbers in the last two years. [...] [I]t is likely the plan would require militarisation, a scenario which Nicole Phillips, legal director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigration policy non-profit, described as “terrifying”. [...] Decaying bodies of migrants are routinely found deep in the rainforest [...]. Those who survive the arduous two-week trek are at the mercy of [...] groups that frequently rob [...] vulnerable migrants. Given the risk that migrants already undergo fleeing poverty or persecution, Blaine Bookey at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies said she doubted authorities can deter them from making the trip. More likely, migrants will be pushed further underground and forced to take more dangerous routes. [...] Despite the harrowing tales of robbery [...] and death in the Darién Gap, the number of people and families making the journey surged in 2022 to record levels [...].
Text by: Luke Tyler. “‘Terrifying’: Critics decry US plan to stop migrants at Darién Gap.” The Guardian. 14 April 2023.
---
Why? Excerpt:
Facing pressure from conservatives, the Biden administration is trying to cut down on irregular migration and has set its sights on the booming foot traffic through the Darién. Currently, a [...] law, Title 42, uses the pandemic as justification to prohibit asylum claims at the US-Mexico land border, requiring Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Cubans to apply formally and meet certain requirements instead. [...] [B]ut the most desperate migrants often cannot meet the requisites due to the dire conditions in the countries from which they are fleeing, said Phillips. “The thought of [the US, Panama and Colombia] further militarising in order to keep migrants out is terrifying for people’s safety.” She said it was disappointing that human rights were not mentioned even once in the trilateral statement, given the dire and growing humanitarian crisis in the Darién. Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which attends to migrants needing medical assistance when they emerge from the jungle in Panama, says it [...] is “concerned” by the possible militarisation of borders. “We have seen in other countries that it can lead to more danger, not ensuring basic services and may increase suffering,” Luis Eguiluz, head of mission for MSF Colombia and Panama, said.
Text by: Luke Tyler. “‘Terrifying’: Critics decry US plan to stop migrants at Darién Gap.” The Guardian. 14 April 2023.
34 notes · View notes
mpregbillypilgrim · 1 year
Text
closing off roxham road is probably like. the most legitimately evil thing trudeau has done. the reason why people started crossing the border there is because the US stopped taking in refugees during trump's presidency. people who were looking to seek asylum there couldn't anymore so they came to canada instead. biden and trudeau celebrating the road's closing is so fucking grim because. it's a result of US incompetency. these people are already desperate to find somewhere safe. they will die of exposure in much more dangerous areas trying to cross.
16 notes · View notes
leaveharmony · 1 year
Link
2 notes · View notes
atlanticcanada · 1 year
Text
Halifax’s Newcomer Clinic for refugees calling for funding to aid asylum seekers
Four years ago, with a single step, Maribel Palacios Duarte’s life changed course.
She crossed into Canada border at Roxham Road in Quebec to seek asylum.
“I know it’s not legal but it’s a hope. It’s another place where you can go and find a hand,” said Palacio Duarte.
She and her family were fleeing Columbia where she had worked as a teacher, but was also involved in political campaigns and was receiving terrible death threats.
“We will kill your kids, we will kill your husband, we will kill you,” said Palacio Duarte.
The Roxham Road crossing at the U.S.-Canada border in Quebec is well-travelled. The federal government has said more than 39,000 asylum seekers crossed into Quebec last year prompting that province to ask for help. Atlantic Canada has answered.
At meeting of Canada’s immigration ministers Friday—ministers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador pledged to welcome asylum seekers. The federal minister of immigration did not give a specific number of how many people may be transferred to the region.
“In New Brunswick right now we’ve actually received 57 asylum seekers,” said Arlene Dunn, New Brunswick’s minister responsible for immigration.
Nova Scotia has received 134 asylum seekers and is expecting more to arrive next week.
Newfoundland and Labrador is also preparing.
“We also know they’re fleeing unimaginable circumstances to be able provide a safe place for them to land, to start their new life, that’s our commitment,” said Jill Balser, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Immigration.
Refugee agencies, such as the Halifax Refugee Clinic are ready and wanting to help but are also being challenged.
“An unprecedented level of claimants all at once.  And represents about a year of our year case load in just a few weeks,” said Julie Chamagne, Executive Director of the Halifax Refugee Clinic. 
There are calls for more money from Ottawa to help with supports such as more legal aid to help process the asylum seekers refugee claims. CTV News asked federal Minister Sean Fraser about the file.
“I don’t have all the details of next steps today but it’s a challenging situation,” Fraser said. “That I recognize needs additional support and I’m working towards to provide that support.”
Palacio Duarte said the first door she knocked on when she arrived in Halifax was the Halifax Refugee Clinic. The organization helped her and her family find housing and jobs and also helped process her claim. Through a tribunal, Palacio Duarte and her family have been deemed protected persons.
Back in Columbia, she was a teacher. In Halifax she’s been working in retail and immigration and next week she a new job at the Halifax Refugee Clinic.
“Always in my life I have just one pathway and it’s helping people,” said Palacio Duarte. “And I’m always trying to do that.”
Giving hope and help to people who will arrive next.
For full coverage of Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated page.
from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/HNqJrlb
2 notes · View notes
pookiestheone · 2 years
Link
Quebec is asking the federal government to close a wooded border crossing south of Montreal because the province can't handle the number of asylum seekers entering the country.
Premier Francois Legault says more than 100 refugee claimants are entering Quebec every day from the United States through a rural path called Roxham Road.
The popular unofficial border crossing was closed when the pandemic hit in March 2020 and reopened last November.
1 note · View note
2020cookie · 3 days
Text
0 notes
roadwarrior1157 · 8 days
Video
youtube
Trudeau's hiding something about Roxham Road
0 notes
allthecanadianpolitics · 10 months
Text
The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to rule Friday on whether the Safe Third Country Agreement between the U.S. and Canada is constitutional in a case that could have ramifications on the 2004 bilateral treaty that governs the flow of asylum seekers across the border. Under the agreement, asylum seekers are required to make their claim at the first “safe” country they reach. It has meant that, in practice, border officials in Canada turn back would-be asylum seekers who show up at official checkpoints from the U.S. But a loophole exists, and those who cross into Canada or the U.S. at unofficial crossings have been able to make their claims when intercepted by authorities — for example, the border officials at Roxham Road in Quebec. The Canadian Council for Refugees brought forward the case in 2017 which is now before the nation’s top court, arguing that the U.S. is not always a safe country for all refugees. [...]
Continue Reading.
Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid
80 notes · View notes
Text
*supreme court agrees highway environmental easement illegal
*court orders reconciliation
0 notes
tearsofrefugees · 1 year
Link
1 note · View note
shahananasrin-blog · 6 months
Link
[ad_1] By Staff The Canadian Press Posted September 25, 2023 10:23 am Descrease article font size Increase article font size The last RCMP building is coming down at Roxham Road, which became an unofficial border crossing used by more than 100,000 migrants crossing into Canada from Upstate New York to apply for asylum since 2017. The sound of crumpling metal filled the air Monday morning as demolition started on the structure located at the end of a rural road about 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal, by the United States border.RCMP Sgt. Charles Poirier says the temporary building has reached the end of its useful life because the flow of asylum seekers across the border has slowed dramatically in recent months. 2:09 Housing crisis affecting Montreal North shelter for asylum seekers The unofficial crossing was shut down in late March after the U.S. and Canada closed a long-standing loophole in the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement to make the deal apply to the 8,900 kilometres of shared border. Story continues below advertisement Poirier says about 113,000 people used Roxham Road since 2017 to enter Quebec from the U.S. Now, he says, the number of migrants crossing irregularly has slowed to about 14 a week spread over the entire Champlain sector, which includes Roxham Road and surrounding areas. 2:01 Advocates concerned about asylum seekers using dangerous paths after Roxham Road closure Trending Now Guilbeault suspending urban park study after Ford’s Greenbelt reversal Get your flu and COVID shots at the same time, health experts urge The RCMP will no longer maintain a 24/7 presence at the road but will continue to patrol the border with their counterparts from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.Under the 2004 Canada-U.S. agreement, asylum seekers have to apply for refugee status in the first of the two countries they enter. Before the loophole was closed, migrants were able to cross the border at illegal checkpoints — like Roxham Road — and claim asylum in either country.For years before 2017 Roxham Road had been a popular spot to cross, but the entry point started recording a spike in asylum seekers after the U.S. cracked down on illegal immigration and imposed new restrictions on refugees under then-president Donald Trump. Story continues below advertisement In response, RCMP built infrastructure at the site to deal with the heavy foot traffic. 2:09 Closing of Roxham Road border crossing ‘rushed’ and ‘dangerous’: officials Previous Video Next Video &copy 2023 The Canadian Press [ad_2]
0 notes
fatehbaz · 11 months
Text
Razak Iyal and Seidu Mohammed recently celebrated becoming Canadian citizens. Their stories have been intertwined since they crossed the Canada-United States border to seek asylum near Emerson, Manitoba, on Christmas eve of 2016. Their lives nearly ended on that frigid night at the side of a rural road.
The two men survived but both lost all their fingers to frostbite.
Others have not survived. On March 31 [2023], two families perished at the Quebec-US border, including an infant and a three-year-old.
Stories like Razak and Seidu’s have captured intense political and public attention in Canada.
Why aren’t people going to official ports of entry?
The answer is that the law, specifically the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the US and Canada, deters people from using official border entry points because they will be turned away and denied the opportunity to make a refugee claim. Canada has acknowledged these crossings by erecting pop-up border stations like one at Roxham Road, facilitating the movement of migrants. Quebec’s premier and main opposition leader have called for this makeshift port of entry to be shut down. And now, as part of US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Canada, the two countries have decided to do just that, under a renegotiated STCA that came into effect starting midnight on Friday, March 24 [2023]. 
Now anyone crossing any point of the Canada-US land border to make a refugee claim will be turned away.
---
They will not be able to make a refugee claim and will be sent back to the US side of the border.
Until now, this agreement only applied at official land ports of entry which pushed people seeking asylum to cross at unofficial points and made the remote Roxham Road that dead-ends at the boundary line between Hemmingford, Quebec, and Champlain, New York, a legal and well-travelled option.
The newly expanded STCA now applies across the entire Canada-US land border, including areas between official ports of entry and certain bodies of water. Anyone making an asylum claim within 14 days of crossing without authorisation or valid immigration status will be brought back to a US port of entry and excluded from being able to make a claim in Canada. [...]
---
Advocates argued that the agreement not only infringes migrants’ rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but also violates Canada’s international legal obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention [...]. Rather than suspending the agreement as many refugees and their advocates have long called for, the Canadian government has instead expanded it even though its legality is in question. [...]
How many deaths and other casualties of the STCA will it take before Canada reconsiders its reliance on increasingly restrictive and short-sighted policies? For the answer is blowing in the frigid wind along the US-Canada border: the Safe Third Country Agreement offers no real safety [...].
---
Text by: Jamie Liew, Petra Molnar, and Julie Young. “The new US-Canada border deal is inhumane - and deadly.” Al Jazeera. 19 April 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.] Liew is a lawyer and associate professor at University of Ottawa. Molnar is associate director of the Refugee Law Lab. Young is Canada Research Chair in Critical Border Studies and assistant professor in Department of Geography and Environment at University of Lethbridge.
A summary, from elsewhere:
The deal, which the Canadian government said would come into effect early on Saturday [25 March 2023], effectively extends the so-called Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) to the entire US-Canada border. “The United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement,” US President Joe Biden said during an address to the Canadian parliament in Ottawa on Friday afternoon. But human rights groups said the move will not deter refugees and asylum seekers [...] but instead will push them to take riskier routes. [...] “This is very dangerous,” said Frantz Andre, spokesperson and coordinator of Comite d’action des personnes sans statut, a Montreal-based group that provides support for asylum seekers and others without immigration status. [...] Why is this happening now? Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under political pressure domestically to respond to an increase in crossings, particularly from conservative politicians in Quebec and at the federal level.
Text by: Jillian Kestler-D’Amours. “What the new US-Canada border deal means for asylum seekers.” Al Jazeera. 24 March 2023.
29 notes · View notes