US, Canada close border crossing loophole for asylum seekers

(TND) — The United States and Canada have agreed to close a loophole that let asylum seekers take advantage of unofficial border crossings.

President Joe Biden, addressing the Canadian Parliament on Friday during a state visit, said the two countries are committed to "humane policies" to secure borders while discouraging unlawful or irregular migration that feeds exploitation and human trafficking.

The U.S. and Canada are "working together to address the record levels of migration in the hemisphere," he said.

The countries, which say they share the longest and "most secure" border in the world, will enforce the terms of the Safe Third Country Agreement to the entire land border, including internal waterways.

A quirk in a previous agreement between the countries had let asylum seekers stay and seek protection after they crossed from an unofficial place of entry, according to The Associated Press.

That’s often been Roxham Road near Champlain, New York.

Canada will now be able to send migrants back to the U.S. if they haven't applied for asylum here and vice versa, regardless of where they enter.

Canada also agreed to accept an additional 15,000 migrants on a humanitarian basis from places such as Haiti, Colombia and Ecuador.

Ernesto Castaneda, director of the Immigration Lab at American University, said there are a couple of positives stemming from the deal, such as Canada’s acceptance of the 15,000 immigrants.

But he was largely critical of the agreement, saying it “weakens the right to asylum in North America.”

This new deal regarding asylum seekers may turn people crossing outside of ports of entry and then reporting to authorities and actively asking for asylum into people wanting to pass undetected and living undocumented in Canada,” he said via email. “This is the opposite what these leaders claim to want to achieve.”

Castaneda said this will have a limited impact on migration at the U.S. southern border.

Some people arriving at the southern border who were then bused to New York City recently were subsequently bused to upstate New York so they could ask for asylum in Canada, where asylum waiting periods tend to be shorter than in the U.S.

Castaneda said, “This calculus may change now.”

“Otherwise, this probably will not affect the dynamics on the southern border,” he said.

The deal has negative implications for Mexicans escaping violence related to the drug war, he said.

Castaneda said this agreement will make it harder for Mexicans who fly north to seek asylum at the U.S. and Canadian border.

The deal should help Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had been facing political pressure over the increased number of asylum seekers, Castaneda said.

So many migrants entered Canada via the unofficial crossing in upstate New York that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police staffed a reception center to process them, less than 5 miles from the official border crossing, according to the AP.

This change in policy takes effect almost immediately – 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

"I applaud Canada for stepping up ... opening new legal pathways for (15,000) migrants to come to Canada from countries in the Western Hemisphere," Biden said. "At the same time, the United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement."