US, Canada reach agreement to turn away asylum seekers at unofficial border crossings
illegal border crossing US-Canada
The US and Canada have agreed to refuse asylum seekers at unauthorisedborder crossings.The officialagreement will be announced on Friday (March 24)byUS President Joe Bidenalong with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to Ottawa.
The agreement is anticipated to provide border officers the authority to turn away such asylum seekers travelling in either direction, reported Reuters.
The number of migrants entering the US from Canada has also increased.The action is a part of efforts to control a migrant inflow along Roxham Road, an unauthorised border crossing between the states of New York and Quebec.
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According to unidentified US officials speaking to CBS News, Canada will establish a new refugee programme for 15,000 peopleescaping persecution and violence in South and Central America as part of the agreement.
For 24 hours, Biden will be in Ottawa, Canada, to meet with Trudeau and discuss a number of economic, trade, and immigration-related concerns. The announcement of the migration agreement is planned just before his Friday arrival in the US.
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The agreement modifies the two parties' Safe Third Country Agreement from 2004, which mandates that migrants file for asylum in the first "safe" country they arrive in, whether that be the US or Canada.
The new agreement would also close a gap in the Safe Third Country Agreement that allowed Canada to refuse entry to people using unauthorised crossing points.
(With inputs from agencies)
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