Migrants from Venezuela line up in the cold weather at a makeshift camp on the US-Mexico Border in Matamoros, Mexico. The Supreme Court is keeping pandemic-era limits on people seeking asylum in place indefinitely, dashing hopes of immigration advocates. File image/AP
New York: Unhappy with the hospitality of New York, migrants from Mexico are now fleeing to Canada on taxpayer-funded buses.
According to an exclusive report by The New York Post, National Guard soldiers have been distributing free tickets to migrants who want to start afresh in Canada.
The Big Apple has been at the centre of the migrant crisis in US, with many hotels, where the migrants were being housed, complaining about the menace created by them. Last month, the Mayor of New York Eric Adams said that there’s “no room” for migrants in the city anymore.
Adams also ordered migrants to move out of the taxpayer-funded hotels and seek shelter at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, a move that was rejected by a number of migrants.
Govt-run programmes for migrants
Mayor Adams said that the administration is entitled to pay companies and organisations to facilitate migrants who wish to move from one place to another.
“Some want to go to Canada, some want to go to warmer states, and we are there for them as they continue to move on with their pursuit of this dream,” said Adams.
A City Hall source said that many Catholic Charities also help migrants to move from New York.
A spokesperson of the Catholic Charities Community Services said that it has helped “thousands of new migrants” to relocate by covering their travel expenses.
The migrants have been given bus tickets to Plattsburgh, a city in New York, and from there they have to take care of their own expenses to take taxis and shuttles to travel to Quebec in Canada.
‘Canada safer than America’
A native of Venezuela Raymond Pe?a arrived at the Plattsburgh bus station at 4 am on Sunday. He said, “The military gave me and my family free bus tickets. I am going to Canada for a better quality of life for my family.”
Another migrant named Manuel Rodon said, “I feel like Canada will be safer. It is a much quieter country than America.”
Canada ‘surprised’ by migrants’ arrival
Canada was reportedly not anticipating the arrival of these many migrants into the country.
According to BBC, Quebec Immigration Minister Christine Fr?chette said that the latest development has come as a “surprise”.
She highlighted that the issue of negotiation to update the Safe Third Country Agreement has become more pressing than ever.
The treaty requires migrants to make an asylum claim in the first country they arrive in, whether it’s US or Canada.
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