Quebec accuses New York State of sending migrants via Roxham Road

Colombian migrants are greeted by Canadian mounted police upon their arrival in Quebec via Chemin Roxham on February 9, 2023. AP - Ryan Remiorz

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1 min

Faced with a large number of asylum seekers arriving on its territory, Quebec is trying to close the gaps in the border with the United States.

Their arrival would be facilitated in part by the authorities of the city of New York who buy them bus tickets to go up to Canada.

A situation that Prime Minister François Legault denounces.

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With our correspondent in Montreal, 

For several months, Quebec has received half of the asylum seekers arriving from the United States, while this province is home to less than a quarter of the Canadian population.

Many of these potential refugees

, which is theoretically closed.

Indeed, a Canadian-American agreement prevents them from going to official customs posts.

Quebec Premier François Legault is calling on the United States to ban passage at this unofficial crossing point, because Quebec reception services are overwhelmed with demand.

“

,” he said.

For the past few days, asylum seekers using this passage have been taken to Ontario, rather than Montreal.

The Quebec government is calling for a review of the agreement between Canada and the United States.

This is to prevent asylum seekers from arriving in Canada if they are in American territory.

Immigration lawyers, on the contrary, want refugees to be able to seek asylum in Canada at all official border crossings. 

►Also read: Canada: Chemin Roxham, the administrative anomaly at the origin of the migration crisis in Quebec

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