Should a plan be agreed on, it would likely involve fewer than 1,000 military personnel at the border, passing on information on irregular crossers to border patrol agents

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is in talks with the United States in hopes of avoiding the deployment of American soldiers along their shared border.

Trudeau says it is in the best interests of both countries that the world’s longest unmilitarized border remain that way.“Canada and the United States have the longest un-militarized border in the world and it is very much in both of our interests for it to remain that way,” he said.

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The comments follow a Global News report that the Trump administration is considering whether to deploy troops to intercept anyone trying to enter the U.S. illegally from Canada.

The prime minister says Canada and the U.S. have been in discussions about the issue, but won’t elaborate. However deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland stated that Canada is “strongly opposed” to the idea. ” We have made that opposition very clear to our american counterparts,” she said.

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According to the Global News, a potential plan could station troops 30 kilometres from the border between official points of entry and use sensor technology to find irregular crossers. While the troops would not have the authority to detain anyone, they would pass the information on to border patrol agents.

Fewer than 1,000 military personnel would be deployed, should a plan come into place, sources told the Global News.

The two countries already have a mutual ban in place on non-essential travel, but the movement of trade, commerce and cross-border workers has been allowed to continue — a clear sign that both Ottawa and the White House share a belief in the economic importance of avoiding a complete closure.

But President Donald Trump has long been seized with securing his country’s southern border with Mexico, and has recently been talking about fortifying those efforts under the pretence of protecting Americans from the novel coronavirus.

On Monday, the U.S. announced a 30-day agreement with both Canada and Mexico that includes immediately returning any illegal migrants to the countries from which they arrived, or to their countries of origin if that isn’t possible, rather than holding them at facilities in the U.S.

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“To help prevent the introduction of COVID-19 into our border facilities and into our country, aliens subject to the order will not be held in congregate areas for processing by (Customs and Border Protection) and instead will immediately be turned away from ports of entry,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement earlier this week.

“Those encountered between ports of entry after illegally crossing the border similarly will not be held in congregate areas for processing and instead, to the maximum extent feasible, will immediately be returned to their country of last transit.”

As part of that trilateral agreement, Canada has also agreed to send so-called “irregular” migrants who cross the border somewhere other than at an official port of entry back to the United States.

The U.S. has confirmed over 74,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 1,000 deaths. Meanwhile Canada has reported 3,555 confirmed cases of the virus and 35 deaths.

Canada has also now imposed a mandatory quarantine on anyone entering the country, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms of COVID-19; violators face the prospects of steep fines or even jail time if caught.

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