Champlain, NY (CNN) — On a snowy March afternoon, a small convoy of taxis and rental vehicles headed north on a rural New York highway that ends at the Canadian border. Among the passengers were a Nigerian family of five, a Russian man traveling alone and a South American woman named Giovanna.

“I have a lot of mixed feelings about this moment, because I had to leave my family behind,” a trembling Giovanna told CNN in Spanish as she got out of her taxi outside the unofficial border crossing. of “Roxham Road”, infamous for a quirk of diplomacy and city planning that allows someone to drive to the border and enter Canada illegally, instead of being turned away.

The Colombian mother is part of the seemingly endless stream of migrants who have been drawn to this freezing northernmost part of the United States since 2017, intent on crossing the international border in search of better asylum opportunities.

“I also think I will have a better quality of life in Canada, and I have family there,” Giovanna said before walking towards the invisible line on the ice guarded by Canadian authorities at a checkpoint. fortune. CNN does not use her last name due to threats she says she received in Colombia.

“Hello, ma’am. How are you?” asked a Spanish-speaking Canadian agent on the other end of the line. “You can’t enter Canada through here,” she informed Giovanna. “If you do, we will arrest you. Understood ? You decide.

Giovanna responded by taking five steps to Canada, where officers informed her of her rights and prosecuted her for illegal entry, a process that usually ends with the accused being released to seek asylum in Canada. .

System Constraints

Recently, this scene has been repeated more frequently, prompting Canadian authorities to bus newly arrived asylum seekers to other provinces to help deal with resource shortages in Quebec.

The Canadian government has documented a record 3,901 unauthorized immigrant entries into Quebec in 2022, almost all along Roxham Road.

In January, which is the last month on record, 4,875 asylum seekers crossed illegally, more than double the number recorded in the same period last year.

“These numbers represent a dramatic increase from what we are used to seeing in Canada,” said Abdulla Daoud, executive director of The Refugee Centre, a nonprofit organization just north of the border in Montreal that helps guide asylum seekers.

This aerial view shows migrants from Venezuela, Nigeria, Haiti and other countries arriving at the Roxham Road border crossing in Roxham, Quebec, on March 3, 2023. Credit: Sébastien St-Jean/AFP/Getty Images

A large majority of migrants assisted by his organization have passed through Roxham, according to Daoud. Canada’s due process and the possibility of obtaining work authorization convince some of those waiting in the United States to consider their country: “Compared to our American counterparts, it is within reach,” said Daoud, who also suspects that some migrants may have a misperception of what has become a lengthy process in Canada.

Prior to 2022, Daoud said, asylum seekers in Canada often received an Asylum Seeker Document (RPCD) shortly after arriving in the country. This vital document not only serves to identify asylum seekers, but also allows them to apply for certain provincial benefits and coveted work authorization while their asylum case is being reviewed.

Now, due to the backlog, the best most can get when they arrive is an appointment to receive an RPCD. “We record waits of eight months, a year, a year and a half, two years. Some are scheduled earlier,” explains Daoud. “Some have to wait and it becomes a problem.”

Immigrant advocates are increasingly concerned about the rise in the number of people unable to work and receive social services due to delays.

Why Roxham?

Unauthorized crossing has become popular due to a loophole in the so-called Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires asylum seekers already in the United States to apply there instead of presenting themselves at a point Canadian entry.

This policy, however, does not apply to Roxham Road as it is an unauthorized entry point, literally a road that leads to the border and then resumes on the other side, which has prompted migrants to use it to cross.

Canadian police set up a temporary outpost at the crossing to deal with the influx of migrants who were taking advantage of the road rather than walking through the surrounding forests.

This aerial view shows migrants from Venezuela, Nigeria, Haiti and other countries arriving at the Roxham Road border crossing in Roxham, Quebec on March 3, 2023.
Sebastien St-Jean/AFP/Getty Images

If these migrants presented themselves at the port of entry just 10 minutes drive east, they would not be allowed to cross the border.

Some immigrant advocates have urged Canadian leaders to modify or suspend the treaty to attract immigrants to legal ports of entry.

Canadian and U.S. officials are reviewing the deal ahead of an upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden next week.

“The only way to effectively close not just Roxham Road, but the entire border to these irregular crossings is to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement,” Trudeau said earlier.

Immigrants also enter the United States

Immigrants, mainly Mexicans, also use the region to travel to the southern United States.

Mexican consular officials say they often fly from Mexico to Canada and then make the perilous journey south to seek asylum in the United States.

It’s often a way to avoid the already crowded southern border, which remains restricted by the pandemic-era Title 42 public health authority.

In the past five months alone, officers have apprehended more people crossing into the United States from Canada than in the past three years combined, said Chief Patrol Officer Robert Garcia, who leads the area of the Border Patrol responsible for parts of northern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

In January 2022, the Swanton, Vermont Border Patrol recorded 24 encounters with migrants. Last January, the number was 367.

Garcia also shared Border Patrol footage on social media showing huddled groups walking through the snow, some with young children.

Although the numbers are considerably lower than those historically seen on the country’s southern border, federal authorities recently deployed 25 additional officers to help deal with the increase.

This type of officer reassignment is not unusual in Border Patrol areas that are experiencing increases in arrests and encounters.