Thousands of migrants who illegally entered the US from Mexico are taking buses to the Roxham Road border crossing into Canada..The New York Post reports National Guard soldiers have been distributing tickets, paid for by New York City, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to migrants who want to go to Canada..Raymond Peña and his family crossed the US border after leaving Venezuela, were sent to NYC, then boarded a bus, arriving at a gas-station bus stop in Plattsburgh, NY, about 32 km south of the Canadian border, at 4 am Sunday.. Getting luggage to cross at Roxham RoadGetting luggage to cross at Roxham Road .“The military gave me and my family free bus tickets,” Peña told The Post. “I am going to Canada for a better quality of life for my family.”.Hazel Crampton-Hays, an NYC city hall spokesperson, said mayor Eric Adams’s administration pays companies that run programs for migrants that include “re-ticketing” so they can travel to other cities, sometimes with the assistance of nonprofit organizations..Adams’ press secretary, Fabien Levy, said: “As we have said since the beginning of this crisis, our goal is help connect asylum seekers who want to move to a different location with friends, family, and/or community and, if needed, re-ticket to help get people to their final destination, if not New York City.”.A spokesperson for New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, said neither the state nor the National Guard was paying for bus tickets, and referred The Post to the city for additional information..“At the request of the city, National Guard members have been deployed to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where they greet people upon arrival, answer questions and direct them to services, including transportation options that they seek,” said Crampton-Hays..Legally, migrants’ movements are restricted to destinations within the US pending the outcome of asylum proceedings..But word has spread among the migrant community that Canada, where “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has touted the country’s proud and longstanding tradition of welcoming people seeking safety” is the place to go, reports The Post..From Plattsburgh, migrants are taken to Roxham Road by vans from Chad’s Shuttle Services, which operates three vans in the area..Driver Tyler Tambini said passengers arrive like clockwork on the five buses from New York City that stop in Plattsburgh each day..“There’s got to be 100 people a day,” said Tambini, 23. “I do this all day. They get dropped off and I take them the rest of the way.”.Tambini said single migrants pay between US$40 and $50 each, with families charged $90. Taxis compete for business by rushing to the buses to solicit passengers and help them with their luggage, taking them to Roxham for $70 a head..The Post accompanied several groups of migrants who rode Tambini’s van from Plattsburgh to a cul-de-sac at the end of rural Roxham Road, just steps from the Canadian border..Migrants walk a snow-covered path and through a break in a concrete barrier, where they are stopped by Mounties stationed in an elaborate complex of metal sheds..The Mounties greet each one by saying, “You have entered into Canada. You are under arrest. Take everything from your pockets and put it in your bags. Only ‘dinero’ [Spanish for ‘money’] in your pockets” says The Post..Migrants are taken into a shed for processing..Peruvian native Susy Sanchez Solzarno, 33, crossed from Roxham Road into Canada with her husband and two daughters early Friday morning after one of the girls, 15, saw a video of other migrants doing it on TikTok..Solzarno said the family entered the US from Mexico in December and later spent about a month in a Marriott hotel in Queens that’s being used as an emergency shelter..“I wanted to live in New York because I thought it would be a better future for my daughters,” she said. “But as the days went by, I saw insecurity, many homeless people, many people who shout and are disrespectful, and many people on drugs.”.Solzarno said she sold candy in the subway system for almost two weeks to pay for their trip..“I am going to Canada for the safety and future of my girls,” she said. “I only ask God that everything goes well and that Canada is not like the United States.”.In the Jan. 17 edition of the Montreal Gazette, Trudeau said, "We recognize Quebec's leadership in this, but we want to be in a situation where it is not necessary." .“I want to emphasize how (Quebec) in particular has been extraordinarily generous and present in this difficult situation,” Trudeau said. .From January to November 2022, Mounties intercepted 34,478 asylum seekers between border crossings in Quebec, accounting for nearly everyone who entered Canada that way..Trudeau said his government is working to modernize the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement to “reduce these irregular passages and promote legal immigration.”.In mid-December, federal Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino told CBC an understanding had been reached with the United States to reform the agreement, but Trudeau almost immediately tempered the enthusiasm of his minister.
