Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, caused a stir when he urged Justin Trudeau to close the Roxham Road border crossing in a vicious attack on refugees. By blaming refugees for dwindling public services, Poilievre is distracting the public from the continuous destructive actions of the ruling class.
Why Roxham Road matters
At the centre of the political discourse on migration is the Safe Third Country Agreement between the United States and Canada. According to this agreement, refugees must apply for refugee status in the first “safe” country in which they arrive. This means that Canada turns away asylum seekers who arrive at official checkpoints via the U.S. In reality, the U.S is far from safe. The Trump administration denied 73 percent of applications for refugee status, while the Biden administration has denied 63 percent. Additionally, refugees are often abused, imprisoned, denied resources, and separated from family members.
The U.S’s hostile attitude towards refugees makes Canada a more desirable destination, even when entering through official channels is not possible. The Safe Third Country agreement means that anyone who crosses the U.S-Canada border “irregularly,” at crossings like Roxham Road, can be granted a hearing to apply for refugee status.
The crossing is risky. Individuals and entire families have frozen to death crossing the border on foot. Nearing the border, asylum seekers are greeted with signs warning them that they will be arrested if they don’t turn back. At the crossing, they are arrested by RCMP officers but allowed to remain in the country while they await hearings.
Despite the risks, Roxham Road is one of the only relatively safe crossings available to asylum seekers who have no other options. Canada needs more safe border crossings, not fewer.
Racism and scapegoating
Approximately 100 people cross the border at Roxham Road everyday, usually arriving on Greyhound buses in Plattsburgh, New York and then taking taxis to the Canadian border 30 minutes away. In December of 2022, 4,689 people crossed at Roxham Road. In total only 39,171 refugee claimants arrived through Roxham Road last year. 60 percent of applicants who crossed at Roxham Road are granted refugee status, which makes up 3 percent of the 1.2 million temporary residents who came to Canada last year. Despite Poilievre’s rhetoric, the number of refugees crossing at Roxham Road is small and in no way constitutes a crisis.
The false narrative of the “refugee crisis” is rooted in racism. Most asylum seekers who arrive through Roxham Road are racialized people from Latin America, the Caribbean, and many other places. Meanwhile, the Canadian government granted 420,000 visas to Ukrainian refugees in 2022. As white Europeans, Ukrainian refugees are not faced with the same level of rejection and discrimination as racialized refugees.
Additionally, Poilievre, the mayor of Niagara Falls, and the premier of Quebec have been pushing the narrative that accepting more refugees is putting strain on social services and taking resources away from the rest of the settler population of the lands known as Canada. This narrative deliberately scapegoats refugees for the actions of our own politicians and the ultra-rich who run this country.
After years of cuts, Doug Ford cut hundreds of millions of dollars from education in 2022 alone, despite a surplus of $2.1 billion in the province. Ford’s recent healthcare cuts and steps towards privatization have completely destabilized Ontario’s healthcare system. Additionally, cuts to libraries, reductions in social assistance, and mass evictions have deprived vulnerable people of the resources they need to survive.
While the working class suffers the consequences of reduced public services and stagnant wages amid record inflation, the ultra-rich get richer. Billionaires have increased their wealth by 51 percent since the pandemic began.
Rather than a strain on the Canadian economy, migrants have been playing a vital role in sustaining it. Migrant workers in the agricultural sector help keep our food on our tables despite enduring terrible working conditions and routine exploitation. Migrant workers in healthcare and education have helped keep vital services running throughout the pandemic despite enduring low-wages. And migrants working in factories, transportation, and food service have helped keep the Canadian economy afloat, even though their workplace rights are systematically violated.
Reject Poilievre’s racist fear mongering
It is the rich and big corporations, not migrants, who are draining our public services. The real crisis is one of wealth inequality, not refugees. Poilievre is trying to whip up xenophobia and racism at a time when the Liberals are considering a sweeping regularization program for migrants. Just as the migrant rights movement has opened the door for vast reforms that could advance migrant rights, Poilievre and the Conservatives are now aiming to use racist rhetoric to close the door.
Refugees are not the enemy: the true enemy of the working class is the elite that hoards resources while conducting a systematic war on poverty. Migrants seeking safety deserve to enter the lands known as Canada humanely and without fear of violence. To welcome refugees, we need more safe crossings and stronger social services. Make sure to join the Migrants Rights Network upcoming Status for All actions on March 18 and 19.