RCMP demolish last structure at Quebec's Roxham Road migrant crossing

LACOLLE, Que. -

The last RCMP building came down Monday at Roxham Road, which became an unofficial border crossing used by more than 100,000 migrants crossing into Canada from Upstate New York to apply for asylum since 2017.

Dust and the sound of crumpling metal filled the air while an excavator demolished a white building located at the end of a rural road about 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal, by the United States border.

RCMP Sgt. Charles Poirier told reporters the temporary structure was designed to last a few years and was no longer needed because the flow of asylum seekers across the border had slowed dramatically in recent months.

"The number of migrants that cross through Roxham has dwindled and our presence is no longer necessary," he said.

The unofficial crossing was shut down in late March after the U.S. and Canada closed a long-standing loophole in the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement to make the deal apply to the 8,900 kilometres of shared border.

Poirier said about 113,000 people used Roxham Road since 2017 to enter Quebec from the U.S. Now, the number of migrants crossing irregularly has slowed to about 14 a week, spread over the entire Champlain sector, which includes Roxham Road and surrounding areas.

The RCMP will no longer maintain a 24/7 presence at the road but will continue to patrol the border with their counterparts from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he said.

An RCMP officer and a worker look on the demolition of the temporary installation for refugee claimants at Roxham Road Monday, Sept. 25, 2023 in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Under the 2004 Canada-U.S. agreement, asylum seekers have to apply for refugee status in the first of the two countries they enter. Before the loophole was closed, migrants were able to cross the border at illegal checkpoints -- like Roxham Road -- and claim asylum in either country.

For years before 2017 Roxham Road had been a popular spot to cross, but the entry point started recording a spike in asylum seekers after the U.S. cracked down on illegal immigration and imposed new restrictions on refugees under then-president Donald Trump.

In response, RCMP built infrastructure at the site to deal with the heavy foot traffic.

Poirier said that while "99.9 per cent" of asylum seekers used to cross at Roxham Road, people are now entering from "all over the territory." On Monday, Poirier said staffing levels would be returned to pre-2017 levels and resources would be distributed more evenly along the border.

He acknowledged that the change means more asylum seekers are crossing through wooded areas, which can put them at risk.

"The temperature is getting colder at night, and it's easy to get disoriented and once you get disoriented, you walk for hours in the woods, then hypothermia sets in," he said. "And if you're with young children then it becomes a problem."

He said there has been a rise in the number of people who are crossing from Canada into the United States, sometimes hours after landing at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport.

RCMP officers are investigating whether human smuggling networks, which Poirier said are likely tied to organized crime, are involved in illegal crossings between the U.S. and Canada. There are reports that Mexican cartels are involved in smuggling, but he couldn't confirm their participation.

Frances Ravensbergen, who lives near Roxham Road, and is a member of the community group Bridges Not Borders, said the demolition of the structures is nothing to celebrate.

All that closing Roxham Road has done, she said, is "pushed the problem to other places," such as airports, elsewhere along the border, and in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where her group often sees asylum seekers camping outside the bus terminal with nowhere to go.

Ravensbergen said that while Roxham Road wasn't "the perfect solution," it at least offered a safe place to cross.

What's truly needed, she said, is for Canadian leaders to "take their place in the world" and address a growing challenge from migrants who need new homes due to climate change, war and extreme inequality.

Workers demolish the temporary installation for refugee claimants at Roxham Road Monday, Sept. 25, 2023 in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2023.