Biden’s Canada agenda stacked: NORAD, migration deals likely

OTTAWA, Ontario — President Joe Biden arrived in Canada on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on several of the world’s most difficult challenges: the war in Ukraine, climate change, trade, mass migration and an increasingly assertive China.

Two important agreements appeared to be in hand before Biden even departed Washington. Canada will escalate its timeline for military upgrades to the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the two nations have reached an agreement to update rules for migrants seeking asylum, according to U.S. and Canadian officials who requested anonymity.

The migration deal eliminates a loophole under existing rules that will allow both countries to turn away asylum seekers at the countries’ borders. The loophole resulted in thousands of migrants annually crossing into Canada from the U.S. at a non-official checkpoint, enabling them to stay in the country as they seek asylum instead of letting the process play out while staying in the U.S.

Andrew Harnik, Associated Press

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau greet President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Thursday at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada.

As part of the agreement, Canada is expected to announce that 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere will be given slots to apply to enter the country, according to the Canadian official.

The new policy applies to people without U.S. or Canadian citizenship who are caught within 14 days of crossing the border between the two countries. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the agreement, which is expected to be formally announced on Friday.

The visit comes as the Biden administration has made strengthening its friendship with Canada a priority over the past two years. Both sides see the meetings in the capital of Ottawa as an opportunity to set plans for the future.

National security and air defenses are top of mind. Canada has agreed to an accelerated timeline for spending billions more on military upgrades for NORAD, which monitors the skies above the continent, according to the senior Canadian government official.

Canada announced last year it will invest $3.8 billion over the next six years to modernize NORAD radar systems and billions more years later, but David Cohen, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, has said the current threat climate calls for earlier investment.

Andrew Harnik, Associated Press

President Joe Biden meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Jan. 10 at the InterContinental Presidente Mexico City hotel in Mexico City.

The loophole in the U.S.-Canada migration rules allowed thousands of migrants to cross into Canada from the U.S. at a non-official checkpoint, enabling them to stay in the country as they seek asylum instead of letting the process play out while staying in the U.S.

A quirk in a 2002 agreement between the U.S. and Canada says people seeking asylum must apply in the first country they arrive in. Migrants who go to an official crossing are returned to the U.S. and told to apply there. But those who arrive in Canada at a location other than a port of entry are allowed to stay and request protection, as has been happening on Roxham Road between Champlain, New York, and Quebec.

More than 39,000 claims were filed in 2022 by people who were intercepted by Canadian police, the vast majority of them in Quebec and at Roxham Road.

The broadened focus of Biden’s visit represents an evolution of a friendship between the two countries that exceeds 150 years. The emphasis had more frequently been on issues like trade that had defined relations between the two countries, which share a 5,525-mile border.

Justin Tang, The Canadian Press

People hold umbrellas Thursday as they pass Canadian and American flags lining Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa before U.S. President Joe Biden's visit.

“This visit is about taking stock of what we’ve done, where we are and what we need to prioritize for for the future,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “We’re going to talk about our two democracies stepping up to meet the challenges of our time.”

There will still be an emphasis on trade, yet Canada and the U.S. see the partnership as crucial in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, reducing their dependence on Chinese goods and shifting toward cleaner energy sources amid the planetary damage caused by burning fossil fuels.

The leaders are also expected to discuss tapping critical minerals that will enable the production of electric vehicles, and military and economic commitments at a moment that observers say is the most dangerous since World War II. Chinese President Xi Jinping this week visited Russian President Vladimir Putin, pledging to deepen their economic ties in ways that could help fund Putin’s ongoing war to take Ukraine.

“The United States is coming with big strategic issues on their mind,” said Vincent Rigby, a former national security adviser to Trudeau. “It’s a world where they’re looking to allies to help.”