by Jennie Taer
President Joe Biden and Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, have brokered a deal to address the illegal migrant surge at the U.S. northern border, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
The deal would allow federal authorities in the U.S. to return illegal migrants to Canada within 14 days of crossing, according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited internal documents and a source familiar with the discussions. The plan is set to soon take effect in an effort to “reduce incentives” for migrants to come into the U.S. illegally.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 68,000 migrants that crossed the northern border between October 2022 and February 2023 and roughly 109,000 in fiscal year 2022, according to agency statistics. In the Swanton sector, which covers parts of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, Border Patrol recently reported an 846% increase in illegal migrant apprehensions.
Roughly 40,000 migrants crossed illegally into Canada via Champlain, New York’s Roxham Road, a residential street that leads to a Canadian police post, in 2022, marking a new increase for Canadian authorities, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation recently reported.
Trudeau and Biden are meeting Thursday afternoon and Friday in Ottawa, Canada, to discuss a number of topics, including migration. But the negotiations on the latest deal have been in the works for years, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The two countries previously had a “Safe Third Country” agreement since 2004 that required migrants to claim asylum at the first port of entry they passed through, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Canada is also expected to announce 15,000 new slots for migrants from the Western hemisphere to apply for legal entry, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In an effort to deal with the surge, the Biden administration recently sent two flights of illegal migrants from the Swanton sector to the southern border for expulsion under Title 42, a public health order invoked by the Trump administration to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported exclusively on Tuesday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the White House and the Canadian government didn’t respond to requests for comment.
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Jennie Taer is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
