The RCMP has deemed their facilities at the illegal border crossing at Roxham Road in Quebec “no longer necessary” after only six months. .A March 2023 agreement between Canada and the US, at the behest of the province of Quebec, stated the RCMP would police Roxham Road, which is about 50 km southeast of Montreal, for three to five years. .The deal was made because more than 100,000 people had entered Canada illegally due to a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement, which exempted illegal border crossings from its rule asylum seekers may seek refugee status in only the first country they enter. .People travel from New York State, some on buses paid for by New York City, to the Quebec border at Roxham Road, where they cross illegally and then apply for asylum. If they crossed into Canada legally, they would not be able to apply for asylum status, because the US would be the first country they arrived in after fleeing their own nation. .Meanwhile, as per a February 6 announcement from New York City Mayor Eric Adams,, the US$66 bus ticket for illegal migrants from NYC to Roxham Road would be subsidized by taxpayers. .Quebec officials said the influx of refugees was too much to handle. .The police force dismantled their infrastructure Monday, claiming the number of people attempting to cross illegally into Canada has “dwindled,” citing the crossing of 113,000 asylum seekers at the illegal border crossing since 2017. .According to the RCMP, now there is now only an average of 14 people crossing the unofficial border per week. .“Following the modification to the Safe Third Country Agreement, the number of migrants who cross through Roxham Road has dwindled and our presence here is no longer necessary," Sgt. Charles Poirier said in a statement. .The decision means the RCMP will no longer have an established presence at the illegal border crossing and will revert to its prior methods of camera surveillance and periodical patrols, despite Poirier’s acknowledgment of ongoing investigations into human trafficking networks and organized crime involved in the illegal crossing at Roxham Road. .“At certain moments, there were hundreds of RCMP agents per week working here," Poirier said. "We are back to the deployment we had prior to the migrant crisis.”.“The RCMP will no longer maintain a 24/7 presence at the road but will continue to patrol the border with their counterparts from the US Customs and Border Protection,” he added. .The reason for the move is the claim the volume of people attempting to cross into Canada has decreased, plus the expense of maintaining the police facilities in the area. Poirier did not give any details about the cost, other than it was in the “millions.”.Poirier explained “99.9%” of people entering Canada illegally have been dispersed "all over the territory,” rather than the RCMP having success in curbing the volume. .He said resources will now be distributed evenly all along the border, as many asylum seekers cross through the woods at night, and therefore their lives could be in danger. .“The temperature is getting colder at night, and it's easy to get disoriented and once you get disoriented, you walk for hours in the woods, then hypothermia sets in,” the sergeant said. “And if you're with young children then it becomes a problem.”.An Access to Information request by Michelle Rempel-Garner, federal CPC MP of Calgary Nose Hill, revealed Canadian taxpayers pay for 82% of illegal migrants from the Roxham Road crossing. .There were just 50 illegal migrants requiring accommodations in 2018, with the number skyrocketing to 27,555 by October 2022. .Canadians shouldered the cost of $201 million to support illegal migrants since 2021. In addition to this number, the federal government spent $94 million in hotel accommodations to house the number of asylum seekers. .The report showed there were 14 Canadian hotels on contract for this very purpose from 2018 to 2022.
