Seidu Mohammed knows too well the price irregular migrants can pay to make it to Canada for freedom and safety.

In 2016 he and another Ghanaian man almost died in sub-zero temperatures while crossing the U.S. border into Canada near Emerson, Man., in order to skirt a bilateral treaty that would turn asylum seekers back if they crossed at an official port of entry.

“The Safe Third Country Agreement left us with no choice but to cross the border irregularly, which caused us to lose our fingers,” said Mohammed, who had to have all his 10 digits amputated due to frostbite.

Ten days ago, Washington and Ottawa announced a plan to immediately expand the pact through the entire 9,000-kilometre land border in order to stop the flow of irregular migration. That means that asylum seekers crossing anywhere will now be turned back to the other country within two weeks of arrival.

Mohammad said news of a stricter border rule still left him “terrified,” though six years have passed since he fled Ghana (where he faced persecution as a bisexual man) for the United States, was refused asylum and detained for months before taking the perilous journey to Canada.

“It’s going to put a lot of refugees at risk. They are going to lose their lives from this,” said Mohammed, who was granted asylum in Canada in 2017 and became a Canadian citizen in March.

Bad as the crossing was for him, he fears it’s going to be worse as migrants can no longer take the once-safe route at Roxham Road in Quebec, which accounted for 99 per cent of irregular entry into Canada. They’ll now go further in the woods to avoid detection, he said.

On the eve of Canada’s Refugee Rights Day on Tuesday, Mohammed returned to Emerson for a news conference and joined the chorus of voices calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to have a change of heart and suspend the agreement.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan criticized Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden for “secretly” signing the modified agreement a year ago but only making it public the day before the new rule took effect, on March 25.

“People who are persecuted for trying to escape discrimination, for trying to escape violence, for trying to escape rejection for being who they are, for trying to get to safety would be pushed further underground,” Kwan told Monday’s outdoor news conference amid a -15 C wind chill.

“Human trafficking will increase as a result of this rule.”

“The Safe Third Country Agreement left us with no choice but to cross the border irregularly, which caused us to lose our fingers,” said Mohammed, who had to have all his 10 digits amputated due to frostbite.

The number of irregular migrants arriving in Canada surged in 2017 after Donald Trump won the presidency and introduced a string of anti-immigrant measures.

At the time, Kwan said, Trudeau refused the opposition Conservatives’ demand to close the border, saying it was neither the right way to go nor enforceable.

“So it was a ridiculous idea and that was not something that they would do. But here we are today,” she said. “That’s exactly what they are doing, taking the same (position as) the Trump administration.”

According to the Immigration and Refugee Board, more than 81,400 irregular migrants have filed an asylum claim in Canada since 2017, and of the 51,198 claims heard, 30,518 — almost 60 per cent — were granted. Kwan noted that approval rate: “The vast majority of those claims are found to have a valid refugee claim and as a result, they manage to get status here in Canada … we most certainly should not be closing the border for people to get to safety,” she said.

University of Winnipeg law professor Shauna Labman said fewer irregular migrants may cross into Canada as a result of the expansion of the agreement but it won’t seal the border.

“More will die trying. Their crossings will be in more remote, more isolated and more dangerous places,” she said. “Women already fleeing gender-based violence will be at risk of further violence while reliant on smugglers and susceptible to human trafficking.”

Last week, eight bodies, including two children, belonging to Romanian and Indian families were found in the St. Lawrence River after their attempt to cross into the U.S. by a small boat. That grim discovery came less than a week Canada and the U.S. tightened the border.

Advocates have said these deaths were predicted and are predictable.

On Monday, Trudeau said Canada is welcoming more immigrants than ever, but wants to do it “appropriately,” so people aren’t putting themselves in danger. He said Canadians can’t have confidence in a system where people are taking such risks and hiring criminals to get them across the border.

A protest has been planned at noon on Tuesday at Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s office.

Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @nkeung

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