US President Joe Biden is visiting Canada on March 23 and 24, 2023. The President and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau begin a series of discussions: economic agreements, the military intervention in Haiti and in particular the question of the border between the Canada and the United States. Roxham Road would now be closed. It is an unofficial crossing point through which 40,000 asylum seekers passed in 2022.
With our correspondent in Quebec, Pascal Guericolas
Bound by an agreement since 2002, the United States and Canada have decided to extend this agreement to all of the 9,000 km of border between the two countries. In other words, it would no longer be possible to apply for asylum outside the official crossing points.
This amounts to closing the Roxham Road, located between New York State and the south of Montreal, through which several hundred people enter Canada today. About 40,000 migrants arrived in Canada in 2022 by this route, thus bypassing the official entry points, from the United States.
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The question of Haiti
In return for this agreement, the Canadian government would agree to receive 15,000 additional migrants. These people would probably come from Central America, including Haiti, which would take some pressure off the southern border of the United States.
And precisely, on the subject of Haiti, in the grip of extreme violence and humanitarian crisis serious, Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau will discuss how Canada could support the Haitian police. The media refer to aid of nearly 170 million euros in training and equipment.
For months, the Haitian diaspora has opposed Canadian intervention in that country. A demonstration also took place later in the day in front of the American consulate in Montreal.
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