MONTREAL — Frantz André says his phone rings every day with scared Haitians in the United States considering the dangerous journey across the northern border.
The head of a Montreal-based migrant advocacy group, André says he thinks the number of illegal crossings is going to rise with the expected end next month to the temporary protected status program for Haitians in the U.S.
‘’I can guarantee you that while you and I are talking, there are people who are entering Canada,” said André, a Quebecer of Haitian origin with the Action Committee for People Without Status.
“People call me every day. As soon as I tell them to be careful, they say, “Mr. André, I have no choice.”
Since Christmas Day, at least 27 migrants of Haitian origin have been arrested in Quebec after crossing the border on foot, trying to evade border guards. Several required hospitalization for signs of hypothermia and frostbite after making the frigid trek.
Some of them have already been deported into the control of the U.S Customs and Border Protection, says the Canada Border Services Agency. The relative speed of their deportations is the result of changes made in 2023 to an agreement with the U.S. that closed a loophole that had allowed people who entered Canada outside official ports of entry to make asylum claims.
Under the existing Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, asylum seekers must apply for refugee status in the first safe country they arrive in, meaning someone in the U.S. can’t cross into Canada to seek refugee status.
However, there are exceptions, including if the would-be refugee has close family in Canada or if they are an unaccompanied minor. Another exception to the agreement allows migrants who remain undetected for at least 14 days in Canada to apply for asylum.
It’s these exceptions that are offering some hope to Haitians who are planning to head north.
One of them recently spoke to The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity because she feared being arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. A single mother of a seven-year-old daughter, she moved from Haiti to the United States nearly two years ago, and says the constant threat of arrest has her terrified.
“I’m traumatized and trying to hold on for my daughter, but honestly, it’s getting worse every day. We’re merely breathing, we’re no longer living,” she said on the phone from the state of Georgia.