Canada’s policies force asylum seekers into US to face deportation, critics say | Canada

It was the threat of gang violence in Honduras that drove Carlos and Antonia to flee their home. In 2021, the married couple headed north with their toddler, Alejandro, and a handful of belongings, hoping to reach safety in the United States.

The journey through Guatemala and Mexico was full of danger and uncertainty

“We were in constant fear whenever we had to cross the border and travel with a small child.” said Antonia. “We were very scared.”

With the US beginning Donald Trump’s immigration purge, the opportunities for those who arrived to seek asylum disappeared. An attorney told them that if they objected, they would risk being detained at an immigration hearing and deported.

Since Carlos had family members in Canada, they moved further north. However, their arrival at the Fort Erie border gate did not end their dangerous journey.

A Canadian border agent said he would let Carlos and Alejandro in, but Antonia, who had no family in Canada, would be sent back to the United States. Or all three could return to the U.S. and risk detention and deportation.

“[I said]: ‘What should I tell my son about why they won’t let his mother come with us?’ And the border officer just said: ‘This is your problem, you have 20 minutes to decide,'” Carlos later recalled.

Antonia started to cry. “There was no way I was leaving my son. I was in complete shock,” she later said. “Then my son started crying too.”

The family, whose names were changed for security reasons, chose to stay together. They were sent back to the United States and then deported to Honduras.

Their stories are at the center of a court challenge by the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International Canada and three Hondurans who argue Canadian border officials failed to enforce court-ordered protections for asylum seekers before sending them back to the United States under the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Until 2004, asylum claims could be made at any legal point of entry in Canada; These requests were then processed and the applicants were accepted if their requests were approved.

This changed when Ottawa successfully lobbied for the adoption of the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), forcing immigrants to seek asylum in their first country of arrival. It originally applied to land ports of entry but not to irregular or unofficial crossings.

But advocacy groups and legal experts increasingly argue that the United States should not be considered a safe third country. They point to prolonged detention of those seeking asylum in the country and threats to deport asylum seekers to countries where they could be harmed or killed.

At the same time, Canada is tightening its own asylum system. The new law created greater eligibility rules for those seeking asylum, leading critics to accuse Mark Carney’s government of implementing “Trump-style” immigration policies.

Carlos, Antonia and Alejandro, now six years old, hid in Honduras for fear of retribution from the gang they escaped from.

In 2023, Canada’s supreme court ruled that the STCA was constitutional, ending a lengthy legal challenge by advocacy groups such as the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International Canada, which had long argued that the treaty violated the rights of asylum seekers. But in its ruling, the court also found that the inclusion of legal “safety valves” in the agreement, including the authority to be exempt from returning to the United States on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, meant that the rules complied with “fundamental principles of justice.”

Advocacy groups say these “safety valves” exist only in theory, citing a growing number of asylum seekers sent by Canadian authorities to be detained in the United States.

“People fleeing danger come to the Canadian border every day and express serious fears about what will happen to them if they are sent back to the United States,” Asma Faizi, president of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said in a statement. “Although their fears are very real, the ‘safety valves’ proposed by the Canadian government do not exist in practice and refugees’ requests for protection are ignored.”

In court documents, these groups say asylum seekers are often not told they can seek exemptions or provide evidence. Instead, often without access to legal counsel, they are forced to make a quick decision that will determine their lives for decades to come.

Canada’s border agency said in a statement that officers have limited discretion to delay deportation “only in exceptional circumstances.” The plaintiff must present clear and convincing evidence that he or she would face death, inhumane treatment, or the threat of deportation without due process if returned to the United States.

But Canada’s federal government defended the United States, saying it continues to meet legal requirements under the agreement to remain a safe third country. The plaintiffs’ claims were not examined in court. The judge must first decide whether permission will be granted before the objection can proceed.

“I wish we could show our faces and shout to the world and let everyone know that this is what’s happening to us. It’s not safe for us. But we’re doing our best to fight it,” Carlos said.

“The hardest thing was trying to explain all of this to our son. From one day to the next, everything was turned upside down for him: his world, his community, his space. It’s not easy for a child to compartmentalize. It’s not easy for an adult, either.”