NYC buses migrants to the south of the Canadian border comes as a surprise for Canada
The fact that New York City is sending migrants to the Canadian province of Quebec's border is "surprising," according to an immigration official there.
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, told Fox 5 that his office was helping refugees who had been brought there but wanted to leave.
According to Mr. Adams, some refugees want to go to Canada, while others want to go to warmer areas. And NYC will move forward with them in pursuing this dream."
According to The New York Post, migrants receive free bus tickets from New York City to Plattsburgh, New York state, about 20 miles (32 km) south of the Canadian border.
They pay for shuttles and taxis to carry them to Quebec from there.
Christine Fréchette, the minister of immigration for Quebec, described the development as "surprising" to reporters in Montreal.
She referred to the irregular border crossing used by thousands of asylum seekers each year south of Montreal as "Roxham Road" and said it brought attention to the need to "address the problem of Roxham Road."
As the US and Canada negotiated to renew the Safe Third Country Agreement, Ms. Fréchette also noted that this makes the gravity of the situation even more evident.
The 2002-signed deal mandates that immigrants file an asylum application in the country they arrive in, whether the US or Canada.
However, Roxham Road is not an official border crossing. Thus, it does not apply there. Due to this loophole, Canadian immigration authorities can hear the asylum claims of immigrants arriving from New York.
States on the southern US border are busing recently arrived migrants to America's most populous city, resulting in an ongoing migrant crisis in New York City.
Mayor Adams told reporters during a trip to Texas in January that there was "no room in New York" for the refugees.
Days earlier, he had issued a statement claiming that since last spring, his city had welcomed 40,000 asylum seekers and given them food, shelter, and other resources.
The declaration declared that "we are at our breaking point." According to our forecasts, we don't expect to be able to continue housing newly arrived asylum seekers on our own. Therefore, we've asked the State of New York for emergency mutual aid.
On Monday, Mr. Adams told Fox 5 that the city gave refugees free bus tickets.
He also added that they are ready to assist in reticketing if they want to go elsewhere.
