Record numbers of asylum seekers using U.S.-Canada 'irregular border crossing'

An unprecedented number of asylum seekers have been using the unofficial Roxham Road irregular border crossing from the United States to enter Canada, Reuters reported on Saturday.

The average wait time for asylum seekers in the United States has extended to four years, prompting nearly 40,000 migrants to enter Canada through irregular border crossings last year. This number is nine times higher than in 2021, when some pandemic restrictions were still in place, and more than double the nearly 17,000 who crossed in 2019.

In January alone, nearly 5,000 asylum seekers entered, according to the most recent Canadian government figures cited by CBC Canada News.

The immigration ministers of the New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador provinces say they are willing to welcome asylum seekers who entered Canada through unofficial border crossings, especially through Roxham Road in Quebec.

Minister Sean Fraser, MP for Nova Scotia, told reporters on Friday that he cannot give an exact figure on how many asylum seekers Canada's four Atlantic provinces might receive.

“I hope that we will respond according to the need that we see, and we will do everything we can to make sure that no community sees more people coming in than they can adequately handle,” he added.

The U.S. Border Patrol said it intercepted more than 2,200 people crossing through unofficial entrances in four months since October. That number was close to the total number of arrests for all of 2022.

Immigration experts said closing the border to asylum seekers could send migrants taking even riskier routes. According to Reuters, an Indian family of four froze to death last year in the Canadian province of Manitoba while trying to cross the border into the United States.