Canada is bracing for another possible surge of asylum seekers as more people flee the U.S., seeking refuge north of the border.
The latest push from Washington is to deport one million undocumented immigrants per year, and end protections for some of them.
The crackdown has sparked questions about how that will affect Canada.
Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, many of those asylum seekers fleeing the U.S. and heading north will likely be turned back at the border.
Under the agreement, those seeking refuge can apply only from the first safe country they land in. So if they come to the U.S. first, they have already reached a safe country, and, in most cases, will not then be allowed to apply in Canada.
It’s unlikely there will be another wave of asylum seekers coming to Canada like that of a few years ago, when the numbers peaked at about 165 a day. Immigration lawyer Joel Sandaluk said Canada has made changes that severely limit refugee protection for those coming from the U.S., and for those already in Canada. And even irregular crossings, such as Roxham Road from New York to Quebec, will not be available.
"Places like Roxham Road or Emerson, Manitoba have largely been closed down as a port of entry for a lot of asylum seekers," Sandaluk said. "The Safe Third Country Agreement has been expanded to the entire border between Canada and the United States, so Roxham Road existed because that was an irregular border crossing. But now it doesn’t matter whether it’s regular or irregular. People still won’t be able to come here and claim protection."
Sandaluk said Washington’s deportation targets don’t appear to leave asylum seekers with many options. Many will likely go underground and, he adds, there doesn’t seem to be any recognition of the human toll that some of the political decisions will have.
