The Quebec government is demanding New York City Mayor Eric Adams “immediately” stop sending migrants arriving in his city to the illegal Roxham Road border crossing south of Montreal..As reported in earlier articles in Western Standard, illegal migrants who arrive in New York City after being bussed there from the US/Mexico, are being given bus tickets, paid for by NYC taxpayers, to get to Plattsburgh in upper state New York, about 20 minutes south of Roxham Road..From Plattsburgh, the migrant can take taxis or vans to a cul-de-sac at the end of Roxham Road in Champlain NY, where they walk across the border and surrender to RCMP officers to seek asylum..Information uncovered in an inquiry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) posed by Alberta CPC MP, Michelle Rempel-Garner, asked for information on the government's contracts with hotels to house illegal migrants and the numbers of migrants being "accommodated.".Once migrants enter Canada, they are processed by the RCMP, then sent to accommodations, which include 14 hotels the Canadian government has under contract. .The federal government has spent almost $94-million since the last election, booking entire hotels for months to accommodate an influx of asylum seekers entering Canada, according to the access-to-information request..Last week, Quebec’s immigration minister, Christine Fréchette, said she was surprised about the migrants arriving from New York.."We are going to check if what is mentioned is true and if so, I would say I would be surprised that such a thing would be offered," said Frechette. .This week, the language from the Quebec government was much stronger..“Any form of assistance to migrants crossing the border where it is strictly forbidden to do so should stop immediately,” a spokesperson for Quebec Premier Francois Legault, said..“We understand that the situation of migrants in New York poses major challenges, but the situation in Quebec and particularly in Montreal is even worse and constitutes an important humanitarian issue.”.As many as 250 migrants use the Roxham Road crossing to illegally enter Canada each day, with nearly all of them settling in Montreal, Legault spokesperson Ewan Sauves said..“The situation has overwhelmed Montreal’s ability to provide housing and other public services, with the flood of new students alone equivalent to the opening of 13 new schools,” he said. “Last year, 39,161 people used Roxham Road to illegally enter Canada, comprising 99.1% of all such border crossings.”.Figures released by New York City on Monday showed that officials have processed more than 45,600 migrants since the spring, with about 29,100 housed in 91 emergency shelters, including hotels, as of Sunday..The New York Post reports those figures likely represent an undercount, because they don’t include migrants who stay with relatives, friends and other people in their networks after arriving in New York, according to City Hall..The Big Apple’s population is nearly 8.5 million, while Montreal’s is 1.7 million..Last week, Adams denied the city was intentionally sending migrants to Quebec..“We are not encouraging anyone to go to another country,” Adams said on CNN. “If we speak with a migrant, interview them, [we] find out their desires and make sure that we are assisting them like we’ve done.”.The surge in border crossings at Roxham Road has sparked controversy in Quebec, with the separatist Parti Québécois calling for police intervention and the creation of an enclave to block the Roxham Road path between the US and Canada, says The Post..Another separatist party, Bloc Québécois, tweeted Friday that Quebec was not an “all-inclusive,” sparking outrage from the democratic socialist party Québec solidaire, the Canadian Press reported Sunday..“An all-inclusive is a place where we go to crash on the beach drinking margaritas,” Québec solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said while attending the party’s national council in Montreal..“The people who enter Quebec to apply for asylum are people who are fleeing violence, exploitation, persecution. They are not people who want to take it easy.”.Nadeau-Dubois added: “These comparisons have no place.”
