Opinion | America is not safe for refugees and Canadian border policies must reflect that now

Hard to continue arguing USA safe for refugees under Trump administration:

…This week, as Canada’s Federal Court hears arguments on the legality of the Safe Third Country Agreement, more than 130 U.S.-based immigrant-serving organizations and experts issued a rare joint statement: The United States is not safe for asylum seekers.

The situation is clear. Prime Minister Carney must pause the Safe Third Country Agreement until the United States is truly “safe” for asylum seekers.

Our organizations maintain databases that catalogue U.S. human rights abuses against people seeking safety. One such database tracks third country deportations: the Trump administration’s cruel policy that deports asylum seekers and refugees to unsafe countries where they have never been, including the Central African Republic and Honduras.

The other database tracks brutality and neglect in ICE detention, where deaths have nearly doubled in the past year. This includes Johnny Noviello, a Canadian citizen with U.S. permanent residency who died in ICE custody in a manner experts say was preventable.

The Canadian government claims that conditions in the United States are continually monitored and “only countries that respect human rights and offer a “high degree of protection to asylum-seekers” may be designated as safe third countries.”…

Anna MacLennan is a Canadian-American refugee advocate with the Refugee Advocacy Lab, Refugees International and the Human Impact Project. Dr. Yael Schacher is an historian of U.S. immigration law and Director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International.

Source: Opinion | America is not safe for refugees and Canadian border policies must reflect that now