As dozens of people illegally cross the Canadian border each day, officials have beefed up their presence at the spot where many people cross.
At Roxham Rd. the border is marked by a ditch, and now on the Canadian side officials have set up tents, chairs, and portable toilets.
It is still, technically, an unofficial border crossing, but what was the site of a few people crossing the border each day in the depths of winter has now become a steady stream, with more than 100 people walking across each day.
The vast majority of illegal migrants are Haitians who have been living in the United States since the 2010 earthquake. They are fleeing the U.S. because they fear President Donald Trump will end a program that has granted them asylum.
Most don't realize that last year, Canada put an end to its program that granted Haitians protected status.
"Canada is a country that treats immigrants well," said one man.
"I hope for a better life for my family," said another.
Once the migrant are intercepted by police--an easy task-- the refugees are then transported by the bus load to a processing station a few kilometres away at the St. Bernard de Lacolle border crossing.
Their refugee applications would be refused if they had applied directly at a legal border crossing because of the Safe Third Country Agreement, but entering Canada somewhere else creates a sort of legal fiction that the claimants were never in the United States.
Immigration lawyer and former chief of staff to federal Conservative cabinet ministers Neil Drabkin said the migrants are taking advantage of a legal loophole.
"What they are effectively doing is coming here illegally and jumping the queue. The vast majority of Canadians want us to be generous but the vast majority of Canadians also don't want our laws and our system undermined," said Drabkin.
"There are people waiting in refugee camps all around the world and instead of being able to come here our resources are being diverted to the Olympic Stadium so these people are being processed."
Federal officials expect the number of border jumpers to climb as those looking for a better life come north.
