By Oyintari Ben
A deal has been made between the US and Canada to turn away asylum seekers at unauthorised border crossings.
At the US-Canada border’s Roxham Road, many people have been entering the country illegally.
The action addresses a gap left by a 2004 asylum agreement with the US regarding the location of asylum requests made by refugees.
It permitted Canada to refuse asylum seekers at legitimate entry points but not at unauthorised crossing locations.
Unnamed US sources told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that Canada will now establish a new refugee programme for 15,000 individuals escaping persecution and violence in South and Central America as part of the agreement.
Mr Biden is in Ottawa, Canada, for a 24-hour visit to discuss several economic, trade, and immigration-related concerns with Mr Trudeau.
The announcement of the migration agreement is planned just before his Friday arrival in the US.
Officials on both sides of the border should be able to turn away such asylum applicants travelling in any direction owing to the deal.
The number of migrants entering Canada from the US side has also increased.
The action is part of efforts to reduce the number of migrants arriving at Roxham Road, an unauthorised border crossing between New York and Quebec.
The agreement modifies the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the two parties, which mandates that migrants file for asylum in the first “safe” country they arrive in, whether the US or Canada.
At official ports of entry, the STCA permits US and Canadian officials to deny asylum requests from both ways, but it does not apply at unauthorised crossings.
As a result, numerous migrants tried to enter Canada in locations without formal border crossings. With the new arrangement, that gap would be closed.
Last month, officials in New York City announced they were giving them free bus tickets to help migrants get to the US-Canada border.
The Biden administration has also suggested that if Covid border controls are lifted in May, it will be harder for migrants to claim asylum at the southern US border with Mexico. The proposal has drawn criticism from human rights organisations.
The new US-Canada deal could go into force immediately because US Congress approval is unnecessary.
Mr Trudeau has claimed that renegotiating the Safe Third Country Agreement is the only way to stop unauthorised border crossings at Roxham Road.
