The United States and Canada have reached a deal to turn back those seeking asylum. The pact will be announced by Joe Biden and Minister Justin Trudeau Biden’s visit to Ottawa.
The pact will allow officials in both countries to reject asylum seekers heading in either direction.
According to CNN, the development is part of efforts to curtail an influx of migrants at Roxham Road, an unofficial crossing between New York state and the province of Quebec.
Canada will create a new refugee programme for 15,000 migrants fleeing persecution and violence in South and Central America, according to the pact.
Biden is in Ottawa to talk about economic, trade and immigration issues with Trudeau.
The deal is a modification to the two sides’ 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires migrants to make an asylum claim in the first “safe” country they reach, whether it is the US or Canada.
The new arrangement would remove the loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement that prevented Canada from turning away people illegally crossing the borders.
There has been an increase in the number of migrants who have crossed the northern border at Roxham Road.
Biden’s administration has also proposed to stop asylum seekers at the US southern border with Mexico by making it difficult for migrants to claim asylum once COVID border controls lift in May. Human rights groups have vehemently opposed the proposal.
The new US-Canada will presumably take effect immediately since it does not require the approval of the US Congress.
Trudeau has argued the only way to halt irregular border crossings at Roxham Road is by renegotiating the Safe Third Country Agreement.
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