Several dozen migrants showed up at the Lacolle border crossing to apply for asylum over the weekend, a sudden increase that occurred shortly after Trump’s election.
According to information obtained by our Bureau of Investigation, at least 80 of them requested asylum between Saturday and Sunday, while the average in recent months was more like a dozen per day.
“In terms of employees, we are not ready to welcome so many people,” warns Yanniv Waknine, third national vice-president of the Customs and Immigration Union. If the trend continues, we will have to reassign agents to Lacolle.”
Yanniv Waknine, third national vice-president of the Customs and Immigration Union
Courtesy Yanniv Waknine
This influx at the border has been observed for at least two weekends. It comes just weeks into the presidency of Donald Trump, who has promised the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.
While some of the migrants were able to enter the country, others were turned back at the border (see other text).
“Would this be the first wave of post-Trump immigration?” asks Stephan Reichhold, general director of the Table de concertation des organizations serving refugees and immigrants (TCRI).
This was the scenario that several experts anticipated the day after the election of November 5.
Despite our repeated requests, the Canada Border Services Agency would not confirm the number of requests received this weekend. She counts 140 requests per week on average in Lacolle in November, compared to around 150 per week “during the summer months”.
Deja vu
Shortly after Trump’s election in 2016, migrants at risk of losing their status in the United States began passing through Roxham Road to seek asylum in Canada.
Their arrival took the federal government by surprise, which had installed temporary trailers to accommodate them on the other side of the border.
At the height of the crisis, 150 people used Roxham Road every day.
It was finally “closed” in March 2023, due to changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement. When we visited this week, the surrounding area was completely deserted.
The surroundings of Roxham Road were deserted on November 25, 2024.
Photo Martin Chevalier
More orderly
Since then, asylum seekers have increasingly turned to official points of entry such as the Montreal-Trudeau airport.
Those passing through the Lacolle border crossing usually take a bus to Plattsburgh and then a taxi to the border crossing.
“It’s much more orderly,” comments Stephan Reichhold of TCRI.
Only 35 people were intercepted trying to enter Canada between ports of entry on 1is October to November 7, according to the CBSA.
Conversely, more than 20,000 people have crossed to the United States in the last year, which arouses the annoyance of Americans.
-With the collaboration of Olivier Faucher
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