The Roxham Road border crossing has recently gained attention, prompting Canadians to reconsider the issue. Quebec Premier Francois Legault has been a prominent voice calling for the makeshift crossing at the Quebec-New York border to be closed, as accommodating the influx of migrants who cross at their own schedules has proven challenging for provincial and municipal resources. Legault also called for the Safe Third Country Agreement to be amended, as it has a loophole that allows people who cross at such locations to still claim asylum in Canada. However, dispersing these migrants to other cities across the country has created additional concerns. The issue flared up in 2017 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a social media post welcoming everyone to Canada, causing the number of people crossing at that location to soar. The challenge with the Roxham Road crossing is not the number of people crossing, but rather how they are crossing, disrupting Canada’s highly-managed immigration system. Canadians are now asking if the infrastructure is able to adequately serve the size of communities, as health-care and transportation infrastructure is increasingly maxed out.
Roxham Road draws renewed attention from Canadians.
