Background on Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement
The Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement
forces asylum seekers fleeing repression and persecution in the U.S. to
enter Canada irregularly in order to claim refugee status. All
immigration and labour laws in Canada are organized to encourage the
exploitation of these and other vulnerable migrants, as well as human
trafficking, all in the name of national security.
Origin of the Safe Third Country Agreement
In December 2001, two months after 9/11, the
Chrétien Liberal government signed the "Smart Border
Declaration and Associated 30-Point Action Plan" with the U.S. to
"enhance the security of our shared border while facilitating the
legitimate flow of people and goods."
The Action Plan has four pillars: the secure flow
of people, the secure flow of goods, secure infrastructure, and
information sharing and coordination in the enforcement of these
objectives.
A report to Canada's Standing Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs entitled "Smart Border Action Plan Status Report,"
dated December 6, 2002 -- the day after the signing of the Canada-U.S.
Safe Third Country Agreement -- includes an explanation of the
situation facing refugee claimants:
" #4 Refugee/Asylum Processing
"The United States and Canada have made
significant progress on a Statement of Mutual Understanding which will
allow them to more effectively exchange information on
immigration-related issues. The two countries are also very close to an
agreement which will permit the systematic sharing of information
relating to asylum seekers. This will help each country identify
potential security and criminality threats and expose 'forum shoppers'
who seek asylum in both systems. This exchange of information will be
in accordance with the privacy laws of both countries."
" #5 Managing of Refugee/Asylum Claims
"The United States and Canada have signed a Safe
Third Country Agreement that allows both countries to manage the flow
of individuals seeking to access their respective asylum systems. The
agreement will cover asylum claims made at land border ports of entry.
"The Agreement is bound by the principle of family
re-unification in determining whether an individual would be exempted
from the requirement of making a claim in the first country of arrival.
The Agreement also clearly identifies that individuals making a claim
in either country would not be removed to another country until a
determination of that person's claim has been made.
"Both countries will now finalize the regulatory
framework and standard operating procedures necessary to implement this
Agreement."
Coming into Force of Safe Third
Country Agreement
The Safe Third Country Agreement,
signed by Canada and the U.S. December 5, 2002, came into force in
December 2004. Under this agreement, Canada and the U.S. each declare
the other country safe for refugees and close the door on most refugee
claimants at the Canada-U.S. border. It is precisely this agreement
which forces asylum seekers to cross into Canada at irregular border
crossings to make their refugee claim, as the vast majority are refused
entry at the official Canada-U.S. border. Most refugee claimants enter
Canada via New York State through Roxham Road, in Hemmingford, Quebec,
a small town in the Eastern Townships.
Trump's Executive Orders
On January 25, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump
issued two executive orders, one concerning immigration and border
security and detention and the other to remove federal funding for
sanctuary cities. Sanctuary cities and counties are those that refuse
to cooperate with the federal government in enforcing federal
immigration laws, particularly requests to detain "undocumented"
immigrants. On January 27, 2017, another executive order was issued
that banned entry to any non-citizen with a passport from Iran, Iraq,
Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan or Yemen and suspended entry of refugees
to the United States. All three orders served to attack the rights of
immigrants and the conception and responsibilities of citizenship. They
also served to further intensify the conflicts between federal and
state authorities -- all of which have their own armed police forces --
and to violate the nation-to-nation relations and principles on which
the recognized international rule of law is based.
Appointment of Bill Blair as Minister of Border
Security and Organized Crime Reduction
On July 28, 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
announced the appointment of former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair to
the newly created position of Minister of Border Security and Organized
Crime Reduction. Through sleight of hand, the Trudeau government found
a way to link vulnerable migrants with border security and organized
crime. By making the irregular crossing of asylum seekers through
Roxham Road and anywhere else in Canada an issue of law and order,
Trudeau turned those seeking asylum into a criminal category, all in
the name of upholding fair treatment and rule of law, which is
unconscionable. Trudeau's mandate letter to the minister reads in part:
"Your goals are to ensure that our borders remain secure and to lead
cross-government efforts to reduce organized crime. You will work to
ensure Canada's borders are managed to promote legitimate travel and
trade while keeping Canadians safe and treating everyone fairly, in
accordance with our laws. You will also play a leading role in our
efforts to reduce gun violence. [You] are the Minister responsible for
our strategy to manage the challenge of irregular migration."[1]
Appointment of Marco Mendicino as Minister of
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
On November 20, 2019, Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau appointed Marco Mendicino Minister of Immigration, Refugees and
Citizenship. One of the new Immigration Minister's roles, as outlined
in his mandate letter from the Prime Minister, is to "[s]upport the
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on irregular
migration, including the new Border Enforcement Strategy and continued
work with the United States to modernize the Safe Third Country
Agreement."[2]
Notes
1. As
Toronto Police Chief in 2010, Blair was in charge of policing the G20
Summit in 2010, working closely with the office of then-Prime Minister
Stephen Harper and the RCMP, which was coordinating security with U.S.
Homeland Security and U.S. intelligence. On the ground were 21,000
security personnel.
The police terrorized the protesters, with many
Toronto police removing their badges so that they could not be
identified. More than 1,140 people, including many bystanders, were
arrested. Mounted police, along with others on foot, charged the
demonstrators with batons and injured countless people. Hundreds of
people were "kettled" and kept, without cause, for hours in the pouring
rain to suppress the people's affirmation of their rights.
2. Marco
Mendicino is a former federal prosecutor who was prosecution co-lead in
the case of the so-called "Toronto 18" in which a group of national
minority youth were "entrapped" by the Canadian state which used two
CSIS moles who were paid handsomely for their work. At the end, seven
of the youth had their charges dropped because there was no case
against them. They were not compensated for their mistreatment and did
not receive an apology from the police or the government and will
forever bear the burden of being a "terror suspect." Others "confessed"
under blackmail to being involved in terrorist activity. They were told
they would serve long prison sentences if they were to resist.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 29 - August 8, 2020
Article Link:
Background on Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
