We now have the complete information for the year 2019. 
( www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/asylum-claims/asylum-claims-2019.html)

• The number of people crossing  irregularly into Canada via Roxham Road in 2019 to  claim asylum was 16,136.    This is a decrease of 13% when compared to 2018 (18,518). 
• The total number of people crossing irregularly into Canada in 2019 was 16,503
• Overall the total numbers of people who sought asylum in Canada (both regular and irregular by land, sea and air and inland) was 63,830. This is an increase of 16% when compared to 2018 (55,040). Clearly this reflects the growing numbers of forcibly displaced people  which now stands at 70.8 million,  more than at any time in human history.  Of these 29.4 million are refugees and asylum seekers who have fled their homelands.  The rest are people internally displaced within their own countries.  
• Information on the outcomes of refugee claims are found at the Immigration and Refugee Board website.  Just under 50% of all refugee claims made by people crossing irregularly were accepted at the first decision from January 2017 to September 2019.   In addition others will be accepted on appeal, on a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment or be allowed to remain under another status.
• It's important to understand that there are wide variations by nationality. Here are the top ten countries identified with their acceptance rates:  Turkey (96%), Eritrea (90%),  Sudan (79%),  Pakistan (56%). Columbia (56%),  Angola (55%), Democratic Republic of Congo (36%),  Nigeria (26%), Haiti (24%), USA (1.4 % - these are USA born children of refugee claimants so it is not surprising it is so low, although we wonder what happens to children who are refused  if their parents are accepted. ).   The other countries (not identified on the  IRB website) had a combined acceptance rate of 69%.  ( https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/statistics/Pages/irregular-border-crossers-countries.aspx) ​

Sunday, January 26th  2020. Afternoon at Roxham Road, USA.
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A mild January day. We arrived about 3.25pm to find a photo-documentalist at the border talking with the RCMP officer.  She had driven four hours to visit Roxham Road.  We stayed until 5.30 pm and only two people arrived at the border.

The first person to arrive was  driven by an Uber driver. She was a tall woman from Rwanda probably in her late 30's and not that warmly dressed. She was very afraid and had difficulty speaking.  She accepted mits and a scarf and some hugs. We explained to her she would be arrested and that it would be a temporary measure and she did not need to be afraid of that process.  She was clearly alarmed to hear this and we did our best to reassure her. She seemed to understand and made her way tentatively to the edge of the border.  The RCMP officer repeated the standard protocol and at the end said it was her choice to cross or not. She seemed to freeze on the spot and was clearly distressed to hear the suggestion she ''could enter Canada legally at the Port of Entry and it was her choice''.  (This is untrue as the Safe Third Country Agreement means she may very well be refused entry and returned to the USA).  She spoke in a very soft voice.  The officer told her that he could not tell her what to do and that it was her choice.  She turned and looked back at us and we indicated that it was ok to go ahead and cross. She remained frozen in place for several more minutes and turned to us again. We repeated our encouragement and she finally and very tentatively took those few steps over the border.  We felt so badly that she had to go through what feels like a kind of game, but for her was clearly a terrifying step to take on her own. 

After a while a taxi pulled up bringing a man on his own with very little baggage.  The taxi driver told us he had been driven by a taxi from New York City. He was a man in his 30's who said he was   from Turkey. He accepted a hat, scarf and mittens and in response to a hug from one of us gave each of us a hug .  He stepped up to the border and put his hands up in the air. He told the RCMP officer he was Kurdish (from Turkey) and needed to seek asylum.  He crossed quickly after hearing the officer's words and all went smoothly.   In both instances the officers behaved appropriately and stuck to the protocol. 

Sunday, January 19th 2020. Afternoon at Roxham Road, USA.

A cold day at the border.  We waited for about 20 minutes before the first taxi arrived. 
It contained a young man  in his early twenties from Angola who spoke fluent English.  He was 
not dressed for the cold and happily accepted mits, hat and scarf from us.

About 15 minutes later a young family from Columbia arrived: mother and father in their late 20's with a small child aged about 3 years old. They only spoke Spanish and there was an RCMP officer was able to communicate with them in Spanish.

Shortly after they crossed a taxi brought a very nervous man in his early 40's. He did not want to speak with us or look at us and crossed over.

Finally at about 4.20 pm a taxi brought two women who were not together but had shared the taxi. One women was a French speaker from the Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) who had a small child aged about three. The other woman spoke English but we didn't find out where she was from.  They were both glad to accept some warm things. Both  women had quite a bit of luggage and the RCMP officer helped them with it.

Today the RCMP officer was very courteous and kept to the protocol.  

Sunday January 5th, 2020. Afternoon at Roxham Road, USA. 
Happy New Year Everyone! We are continuing our border visits on Sundays. Plattsburgh Cares is going to the border the other 6 days of the week.

BnB volunteers arrived at 3:30pm right behind a shuttle taxi. Although it is a multi passenger shuttle, only one person disembarked:  a tall young man from Uganda carrying a suitcase and backpack. He was wearing a light jacket and had no gloves or hat so he gratefully accepted everything on offer (there were no gloves but he was glad for the mitts). He then shook our hands and headed over to be greeted by the RCMP officers who stuck to their protocol. 

After hearing their speech,  he hesitated and went back to speak to the taxi driver who was still parked and watching. Then he returned and crossed into Canada. We asked the driver what he'd asked and she cheerfully replied that he had told her he was perturbed about being arrested and that made him hesitate. She told him he could go ahead.