[LINK] "Canada should dissolve refugee protection deal with U.S.: experts"
MacLean's shares Stephanie Levitz's Canadian Press article noting that some refugee experts suggest Canada should walk away from the bilateral pact with the United States establishing it as a safe third country for refugees.
Immigration advocates say Canada should walk away from its refugee protection agreement with the United States in the wake of a decision there to suspend all refugee admissions and restrict immigration from seven specific countries.
[. . .]
Groups are seizing on the safe third country agreement as a way to both help those affected by Trump’s executive order and send a strong political message.
The deal was signed between Canada and the U.S. in 2002 and came into effect in 2004, part of a suite of new deals signed by the two countries in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and increased joint efforts on border security.
In a nutshell, it means people can’t show up at the Canada-U.S. land border and ask for asylum here if they could have requested it in the U.S. first.
The agreement had an immediate impact on refugee claims at the border, decreasing them by approximately 55 per cent in the first year.
But circumstances have changed, groups argue.
Immigration advocates say Canada should walk away from its refugee protection agreement with the United States in the wake of a decision there to suspend all refugee admissions and restrict immigration from seven specific countries.
[. . .]
Groups are seizing on the safe third country agreement as a way to both help those affected by Trump’s executive order and send a strong political message.
The deal was signed between Canada and the U.S. in 2002 and came into effect in 2004, part of a suite of new deals signed by the two countries in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and increased joint efforts on border security.
In a nutshell, it means people can’t show up at the Canada-U.S. land border and ask for asylum here if they could have requested it in the U.S. first.
The agreement had an immediate impact on refugee claims at the border, decreasing them by approximately 55 per cent in the first year.
But circumstances have changed, groups argue.