AILA Asylum Committee member Randall Chamberlain argues against in his article the expansion of the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) that was recently announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. He states that the expansion closes a loophole within the agreement, which previously did not apply to people caught crossing irregularly between official posts. The STCA requires that asylum seekers in the U.S. and Canada seek asylum in the first of the two countries they reach, effectively cutting off the only safe route for most asylum seekers to enter Canada from the U.S. The author argues that this will be disastrous for asylum seekers, many of whom are ineligible for asylum in the United States but may have a claim in Canada. The result will be more dead refugees as they attempt to cross in more remote and dangerous locations. The article also notes that expanding the STCA goes against Canada’s recent history of welcoming refugees and violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You can find the full article here https://thinkimmigration.org/blog/2023/04/06/the-safe-third-country-agreement-should-be-ended-not-expanded/?utm_campaign=HubSpot-AILA8-04-06-2023&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=253409436&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Q1fygHFnDOX7DvL91WZKTIwMr3TJHiI23HipI3NMlodQbMmNMarfFeMrICa8Hr1CpGA9JIL0gHNJltP-wyHjz4fgfFw&utm_content=253409436&utm_source=hs_email.
Remzi Guvenc Kulen, Esq.
Kulen Law Firm, P.C.
