After a refugee claim has been submitted, the Immigration and Refugee Board is required by law to hold a hearing within 60 days. The average wait time is actually 22 months
It seems like an unremarkable site. A temporary building made of corrugated steel. A single white pillar outside, marking the official line between two countries.
Last year alone, almost 40,000 asylum seekers were intercepted by RCMP entering into Canada at an irregular border crossing. This might be the vast stretches of farmland where the Prairies meet Montana and North Dakota, On most days, there are taxi cabs already waiting in the parking lot of the Mountain Mart. By now, most of the Plattsburgh cab drivers have committed the bus schedule to memory. A few have even begun carrying educational materials in the back seat – pamphlets translated into different languages to walk the asylum seekers through what to expect at the crossing. It’s a half-hour drive and a US$90-fare.
Sometimes the message is met with fear. “The RCMP says what they say, and the tears happen, shaking starts and people turn away,” said Ms. Ravensbergen. But more often, she said, they’ve already prepared for this. They nod and cross anyway. “We were getting word of border officers saying, ‘I’m going to Costco before my shift because I want to buy 24 muffins because people are waiting at the border and I want to get food for them,’” said Ms. Ravensbergen. “Or ‘Do you have car seats? We’re driving little babies in vans and it’s not safe.’”
That’s where officers with the Canada Border Services Agency are waiting with their own examinations. The CBSA officials conduct their questioning of each of the individuals, as well as security screenings and health checks. They also do an initial assessment of each individual’s eligibility for a refugee claim and collect biometric data – including fingerprints.
Starting last summer, the Quebec government began raising concerns about the disproportionate burden it faced with asylum seekers making irregular crossings along its border at Roxham Road. In response, the federal government began transferring migrants to other communities across Canada, including the Ontario border cities of Niagara Falls, Cornwall and Windsor, which are now experiencing their own overextension of limited settlement resources.
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