Canada opposition head wants to stop 'illegal border crossings' from US

According to govt, about 55,000 people crossed the border into Canada from the US to seek asylum in 2018

MONTREAL: Canada's Conservative Party chief and opposition leader Andrew Scheer said on Tuesday he wants to end illegal border crossings from the United States by revisiting the two countries' refugee agreement.

Scheer outlined his proposal for migration policy should his party defeat Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the October general election.

"We will work to put an end to the illegal border crossings at unofficial points of entry like Roxham Road by closing the loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement that allows some people to skip the line and avoid the queue," he said.



Under the 2004 accord, anyone applying for asylum in either the US or Canada must file their application in whichever country they enter first.

To avoid that rule and guarantee their asylum application will be considered in Canada, thousands of migrants have passed into the country through unofficial border crossings, such as at Roxham Road, an area on the border between New York and Quebec.

About 55,000 people crossed the border into Canada from the US to seek asylum in 2018, according to the government.