The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) is an agreement that was made effective in 2004 between the United States and Canada, recognizing each other as safe countries for refugees. Further, it states that refugee claimants must make their claim in the first safe country they arrive in, Canada or the United States. This effectively deems people who are seeking asylum in Canada ineligible if they are entering at a land or water border. While it used to only apply to official border crossings, hence the large number of people arriving at irregular crossings such as Roxham Road, those crossings are now also included under the STCA, which, of course, has had devastating impacts on asylum seekers. Exceptions are only made for those who have family members already in Canada, unaccompanied minors who do not have a parent or guardian in either Canada or the U.S., those who hold valid Canadian visas, or those who face the death penalty in their country or the U.S.
