Canada ‘not an option’ for thousands of Haitians and Syrians who could lose immigration status in U.S.: lawyer

Roughly 350,000 Haitians and Syrians are facing deportation from the U.S. after losing their protected status.

With more than 350,000 Haitians and Syrians set to lose their protected immigration status in the U.S. today, will Canada see another influx of asylum seekers at the border?

“In the past, a lot of people came to Canada when they were losing their status in the United States and Canada saw a pretty significant surge at the border, and especially at irregular border crossings,” Toronto-based immigration lawyer Joel Sandaluk told CTV’s Your Morning on Monday.

“That can’t happen anymore.”

The U.S. Temporary Protected Status program permits authorized foreign nationals to briefly stay and work in the U.S. if they cannot safely return to their home country because of dire situations like armed conflict or an environmental disaster. But in June, a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. With that status set to expire on July 27, they now must leave the U.S. or face deportation.

According to NBC News, a federal judge is expected to rule on Temporary Protected Status for Haitians on Monday.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls from the United States,” Sandaluk said.

“And, you know, it’s hard to tell them that Canada is really not an option for them at all.”

Following the influx of asylum seekers during Trump’s first presidency, Canada tweaked its border policies and what’s known as the Safe Third Country agreement in order to halt irregular border crossings and asylum claims at places like Roxham Road.

“With a change of legislation, Canada closed that entire length of its border to irregular border crossings,” Sandaluk explained.

“So what happens now is if someone were to present themselves at a port of entry who wasn’t eligible – so for example, everybody with temporary protected status – they would simply be returned immediately to the United States, probably into ICE custody.”

Many Haitians were first granted temporary protected status in the U.S. in 2010 after their country faced a devastating earthquake. Syrians were granted the same protections in 2012 as their country descended into civil war. With both countries experiencing widespread violence in subsequent years, those protections were extended several times before the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Canada, however, currently does not remove people to Haiti or Syria due to the humanitarian crises in those countries.

“Those individuals have the ability to apply for a permanent resident status [in Canada] based on humanitarian compassion considerations,” Sandaluk said.

“That’s something that you can’t do in the United States where people subsist on this temporary protected status for many, many years.”

Haitians and Syrians who have lost their protected status in the U.S. could risk forced removal as part of the White House’s immigration crackdown. They can also opt to voluntarily leave, in which case they can receive a free plane ticket and a cash incentive.

“It’s presented as an option, but you’ve got to remember that these are human beings,” Sandaluk said.

“They’ve been living and working in the United States. They have families. They have roots in their community and $2,600 and a plane ticket isn’t really that appealing after a life lived in a particular place.”

With files from CNN