United States | The new frontier

Behind the surge in migrants crossing America’s northern border

The shift exemplifies the fluid nature of migration

The American side of Roxham Road in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, Canada on September 25th 2023
Photograph: Canadian Press via AP
|Champlain, New York

“WE MOVED TO a dead-end road,” says Daniel Labarge. A beer is lodged in the cup holder of his tractor as he goes about his Friday-afternoon chores. “Nice, calm, quiet. Then all of a sudden it blew up.” Mr Labarge’s farm in Champlain, New York, is within spitting distance of America’s northern border. A few years ago his unassuming street, Roxham Road, became a destination for migrants crossing north into Canada. Now, he says, the foot traffic is coming from the other direction.

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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “The new frontier”

From the August 24th 2024 edition

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