Quebec Premier François Legault is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to tweet out a message to dissuade asylum seekers from coming to Canada, blaming the massive number of illegal border crossings on
a 2017 tweet from the prime minister.
Legault said on Feb. 15 that many people have come to Canada to claim asylum using the unofficial crossing at Roxham Road, which connects Quebec and New York State. The previous day, Quebec Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette
confirmed that the province has redirected most of the nearly 400 asylum seekers who passed through Roxham Road last weekend to Ontario and other jurisdictions.
The premier blamed the growth in illegal border-crossing on a 2017 Twitter post by the prime minister which said, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you.”
“It’s about time that Justin Trudeau makes a new tweet to say, ‘Don’t come anymore,’ because we’ve exceeded our welcoming capacity,” Legault told reporters in Quebec City on Feb. 15, adding that Quebec faces a shortage of housing and capacity in schools and hospitals.
Frédéric Bastien, chair of the Quebec-based activist group Justice pour le Quebec, is also calling for a halt to the influx of illegal immigrants coming to Canada via Roxham Road.
He said last month that past remarks made by Trudeau prompted “a wave of thousands of migrants” to illegally cross into Canada via Roxham Road, citing
an article published by Radio Canada in December 2021.
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant, said negotiations are underway with other provinces to redirect migrants entering Quebec.
“We recognize that Quebec has done more than its share, and we thank the government of Quebec for that. In fact, we are in discussion with other provinces to lighten the burden on Quebec,” Rodriguez told reporters on Feb. 15.
“There’s nobody who’s going to be pushed or anything. It’s done on a voluntary basis. But we recognize that Quebec’s effort here is colossal, and we’ve been there to support it since the beginning.”
Government Response
When asked by reporters about Legault’s remarks and whether he has communicated with U.S. officials, Trudeau said his cabinet is looking into the issue.“We’ve heard about those reports and our ministers are doing a follow-up to understand exactly what’s the situation, because obviously it doesn’t look like something that would be a good idea,” he
said in French on Parliament Hill on Feb. 15.
This came after Eric Adams, mayor of New York City,
said the city has been providing free bus tickets to the Canada-U.S. border for migrants who want to claim asylum in Canada.
“Those who are seeking to go somewhere else, we’re not pushing or forcing, if they’re seeking to go somewhere else, we are helping in the re-ticketing process,” Adams
told local TV station Fox 5 on Feb. 6.
Fréchette said she was “surprised” to hear about what New York City is doing, and that the issue highlights the need for Ottawa to solve the problem at Roxham Road.
Meanwhile, the Canada Border Services Agency
said it is aware that asylum seekers from the United States are given free bus tickets taking them to Plattsburgh, New York, which is about 35 kilometres south of the Quebec border and about another 10 kilometres to Roxham Road.
“The CBSA is aware of these reports and remains in contact with the U.S. when it comes to matters of irregular migration,” the agency said in an email to The Epoch Times on Feb. 6.
Peter Wilson and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
