The United States and Canada have reached an agreement to allow both countries to reject migrants illegally crossing the northern US border, a US official confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
The deal will be announced Friday by President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who meet in Ottawa.
The agreement means that migrants attempting to cross illegally between ports of entry in either country will be turned back, which officials say will discourage irregular migration at the US-Canada border.
The agreement, first reported by the LA Times, marks an update to the Safe Third County Agreement drafted by the two nations in 2004, which required migrants to seek asylum in any country they passed through – but was not in effect. apply to those who entered illegally.
In addition, Canada will announce a commitment to accept an additional 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere in the coming year, as part of commitments made last year under the Los Angeles Declaration, which committed countries to a regional response to the migration crisis.
Such a move would be accepted to ease pressure on the US southern border, which has been experiencing a historic wave of migrants since 2021.
The US-Canada border is seeing a surge in illegal immigration, prompting heightened security measures at America’s less-crowded border. (CBP)
The move comes amid an increase in encounters with migrants on the northern border that, while not as big as the wave on the southern border, has left some authorities overwhelmed.
There were more than 109,000 encounters with migrants at the northern border in fiscal year 2022, up from 27,000 in fiscal year 2021. The border, which is 5,525 miles long, has only 115 entry points.
Fox News recently reported that Border Patrol was looking for volunteers to deal with the surge, which was blamed on “Mexican migrants without legal documents.”
The diplomatic agreement also marks the government’s latest move to crack down on illegal border crossings. With the end of Title 42 deportations approaching in May, the government has proposed a rule that would take effect before then and would automatically make migrants ineligible for asylum if they crossed illegally and did not seek asylum in a country through which they passed. passed.
This is a breaking news alert; check back for updates
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at [email protected] or at Twitter.
