Good idea - it looks like their home country is the USA.
Unfortunately that's not the case, but it would be nice.
Anyone crossing the border illegally whose claim is rejected will be sent home, not back to U.S.
What is the Safe Third Country Agreement?
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, in force since December 2004, Canada and the US designate each other as “safe” for refugees and establish the principle that refugee claimants should generally seek protection in the first of the two countries that they reach. There are some limited exceptions to this principle, including for people with family in the other country.
The Safe Third Country Agreement means that if a person makes a refugee claim at a Canadian Port of Entry on the US-Canada border, they will be sent back to the US to claim there, unless they meet one of the limited exceptions in the Agreement.
Why is the US not safe for refugees?
President Trump has adopted arbitrary enforcement, anti-refugee and anti-Muslim measures which mean that we cannot be confident that refugees sent back to the US will have their basic rights protected.
President Trump has signed several Executive Orders that affect those seeking refugee protection in the US. In addition to the Executive Order instituting the “travel ban”, two other Executive Orders introduce new immigration enforcement measures. Harvard Law School has published an analysis: “The Impact of President Trump’s Executive Orders on Asylum Seekers”.
Among the key concerns are:
- Increased use of detention (people in detention have much lower chances of securing refugee protection)
- Expanded “expedited removal” (more people will be subject to summary proceedings that often unfairly deny access to the refugee protection system).
- Criminalization of refugees
- Increased arbitrary enforcement in the context of anti-refugee and anti-Muslim government policies.
The Safe Third Country Agreement is based on the premise that the US is safe for refugees. When Canada sends refugee claimants back to the US under the Safe Third Country Agreement, we are relying on the US to respect their fundamental rights. If the US fails to do so and sends them back to face persecution, Canada is also responsible for violating their rights. For this reason, Canada must not return refugee claimants to the US unless we are absolutely sure that the US will not send them back to persecution. It is impossible to have that confidence in the current context.
The CCR believes that the US has never been safe for all refugees. Because of US laws and how they are implemented, some refugees who receive protection in Canada are denied refugee status in the US. In 2007, the Federal Court agreed with the CCR, ruling that the US does not always protect refugees as required under international law. The situation now is significantly worse.
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