Last year, there was a sixfold increase in the number of American citizens applying for asylum in Canada, notably motivated by the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies.
“Most of the Americans applying for refugee status are the children of non-residents. They are U.S. citizens because they were born there, but they come across the border with their parents because they don’t want to be separated.”
—Stéphane Handfield, a Montreal-based immigration lawyer
According to new data from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada first reported by the Guardian, the jump in American applicants from 2016 to 2017—when some 2,550 U.S. citizens sought asylum in Canada—was largely due to families trying stay together while President Donald Trump and members of his administration have attempted to stem all forms of migration to the United States.
“Most of the Americans applying for refugee status are the children of non-residents,” explained Stéphane Handfield, a Montreal-based immigration lawyer. “They are U.S. citizens because they were born there, but they come across the border with their parents because they don’t want to be separated.”
One Trump administration strategy to curb migration—and deport non-citizens—has been to try to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for foreign nationals whose countries have endured armed conflict, an environmental disaster, an epidemic, or other crises. The program allows citizens from a designated list of places to live and work in the United States as long as it remains unsafe in their home countries.
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