2 suspects in migrant drownings in Akwesasne can be extradited to U.S., judge says – Montreal [Video]

Two people accused of being part of a human smuggling operation tied to the drownings of eight migrants in the St. Lawrence River are one step closer to being extradited to the United States.

A Quebec Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered that Stephanie Square and Rahsontanohstha Delormier be committed into custody to await surrender to the U.S., where they are facing charges of conspiring to commit alien smuggling, alien smuggling for profit, and alien smuggling resulting in death.

They are accused in connection with the deaths of a Romanian family of four who were among eight migrants who drowned while trying to enter the U.S. from Canada in March 2023 through Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.

Lawyers for the two suspects argued that no crime was committed in the U.S., because the Romanian family never left Canada and died in Canadian waters. “Our justice system can provide a trial, eventually, for this type of …