DETAILS EMERGE OF 2 MIGRANT FAMILIES MYSTERIOUSLY KILLED, SEARCH CONTINUES
-ADVOCATES BLAME US PRES. JOE BIDEN, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU
-TRAGEDY HIGHLIGHTS GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE ILLEGALLY CROSSING NORTHERN US BORDER
Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department searching for survivors along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. Photo Credit: JB Nicholas.
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AKWESASNE MOHAWK NATION
Details have emerged of the two migrant families killed attempting to cross a freezing river into the US from Canada by boat last week, while the search for their suspected smuggler continues.
Two Romanian nationals, Florin and Christina Lordache, both 28, died with their 2-and 1-year-old children. The children were Canadian citizens, but their father's asylum application was denied and he was set to be deported from Canada, the CBC reported on Sunday. They were headed to join relatives in Florida.
Father Emanuel Țencaliuc, a priest at the All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church in Toronto, said he met the Lordaches because they worshiped at his church. He baptized their two children. The church held a memorial service Sunday for them.
"We could see they were faithful," he said. "It's with great sadness to learn what happened."
The other family killed was from India: Pravinbhai Veljibhai Chaudhari, 50, his son, Mitkumar Pravinbhai Chaudhari, 20, and daughter, Vidhiben Pravinkumar Chaudhari, 24. Another Indian national remains unidentified. The province where they were from, Gujarat, is relatively well-off with low unemployment.
The eight were killed attempting to illegally enter the US from Canada by crossing the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York on a small boat Wednesday night, as previously reported by The Free Lance. Authorities have not confirmed causes of death, but said there's no threat to the public. Drowning and hypothermia are suspected, given freezing cold temperatures that night.
The crossing was attempted through the 36-square mile Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, an autonomous state straddling the Canadian and American border on both sides of the river in northern New York. Because of its unique position connecting Canada and the US, and the islands it occupies in the river, Akwesasne has long been a smuggling route.
The man suspected of attempting to smuggle the families across the river remains missing.
Tribal police continued searching for Akwesasne citizen Casey Oakes, 30. Oakes was reported missing Thursday. He was last seen Wednesday night, boarding a small, light blue boat, police said. While tribal police said they could not confirm a connection between the deaths and Oakes, police found Oakes' boat near the dead.
"The local waterways are continuing to be searched. Police estimate that there are eight kilometres of waterway to search," they said on Sunday.
Canadian post at “unofficial” crossing on the US-Canada border, end of Roxham Road, just north of Plattsbugh, New York, Apr. 3, 2023. Photo Credit: JB Nicholas.
Immigrant advocates in Canada blamed the Akwesasne deaths on President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The two countries agreed to a new immigration treaty last week largely ending unofficial but heavily-used border crossings between the two countries like the one at Roxham Road outside Plattsburg, New York. It took effect immediately. Hundreds of thousands of migrants used the Roxham Road crossing for years.
Then New York City started busing people there who crossed America's southern border and had themselves been bussed to the Big Apple. 4,875 crossed in Jan. 2023 alone. That's more than double the number from 2022, according to CNN. It caused a huge public outcry in Canada, which triggered new restrictions.
Previously, people crossing at unofficial entry points like Roxham Road were allowed to claim asylum and remain in the country until their application was decided. The new rules allow Canadian police to send people back immediately, unless they have family members with legal status in Canada, are unaccompanied minors or already have a Canadian visa or work permit.
After the new rules took effect, Canadian police erected a new sign on its side of the border at the unofficial Roxham Road crossing: "Stop. Do not cross. It is illegal to enter Canada from here. You will be arrested and may be returned to the United States. Refugee Claimants must request protection in the first safe country they arrive in."
If people cross the border and do not meet the criteria, they are arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and delivered to the US Border Patrol for arrest or release back in the US, the CBC reported.
They also lose their right to apply for asylum in Canada forever.
Canadian immigration lawyer Maureen Silcoff said the Akwesasne smuggling deaths were just the beginning of the tragedies that should be expected from more restrictive immigration policies between Canada and the US.
“This type of situation will occur again and again,” she said. “More people will attempt to cross in an increasingly perilous manner because they understand the agreement has been expanded and will expect the border to be more heavily monitored."
Smugglers, Silcoff added, "will use increasingly dangerous routes so they will be successful in their business efforts.”
Abdulla Daoud, executive director of the Montreal-based Refugee Centre, agreed.
“After what happened last week, the sentiment that we are projecting to asylum-seeking communities is that Canada is no longer accepting people,” Daoud told the Montreal Gazette.
Meanwhile, the Roxham Road crossing itself was quiet Sunday afternoon. No one was attempting to cross into Canada.
That was a stark contrast from when I last visited in Feb., when it was swamped with asylum-seekers who had entered the US at its Southern border, been bussed to New York City, then bussed by Mayor Eric Adams' administration to the nearby city of Plattsburgh, where they took $100 cab rides to the unofficial border crossing at Roxham Road.
The quiet was a relief to a farmer who lives along the very short dead-end road to the crossing.
"It's been a horrible four or five years," Dan LaBarge, owner of Northstar Hogs & Beef, told The Free Lance. "There were 150, 200 cabs every day."
LaBarge grew accustomed to finding cell-phones and other discarded personal items all over his property. Sometimes he found them inside his barn. That scared him and his family, he said, because he has young daughters. He also had to pick up all the trash. No one and no Government agency helped him. But his Canadian neighbors, just down the road, received $25,000 each for "nuisance,” he added.
Still, LaBarge was glad it finally seemed to be over.
This past week, "It's been quiet," he said. "The other day we had six or seven walk by. It's only stragglers now."
Canadian post at “unofficial” crossing on the US-Canada border, end of Roxham Road, just north of Plattsbugh, New York, Apr. 3, 2023. Photo Credit: JB Nicholas.
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