IN THIS ISSUE Border Running: Asylum Seekers Head To Canada Duration: 18:06 Thousands of asylum seekers are fleeing into Canada from the U.S. They left their native countries to escape hardship, poverty, and in some cases war, only to learn that new U.S. immigration policies have made it hard for them to stay. Now they're heading to Canada using illegal border crossings like Roxham Road. It's a one-way route out of the U.S. that the Canadian government can't seem to plug. And it's proving a Herculean effort for those working Border Security to patrol that long international border. Related News in Review stories Asylum Seekers: A Desperate Journey into Canada (Apr 2017) One Year On: Canada s Syrian Refugee Program (Feb 2017) Syrian Arrivals: Canada Welcomes the First Refugees (Feb 2016) The Tamil Boat People Controversy (Oct 2010) Chinese Boat People: Human Cargo (Oct 1999) Refugees in Canada: Getting Through the Door (Mar 1994) Other related Curio.ca content CREDITS News in Review is produced by CBC NEWS Resource Guide Writer/Editor: Sean Dolan Additional editing: Michaël Elbaz Host: Michael Serapio Packaging Producer: Marie-Hélène Savard Associate Producer: Francine Laprotte Supervising Manager: Laraine Bone Visit our website at curio.ca/newsinreview, where you will find an archive of all previous News in Review seasons. As a companion resource, we recommend that students and teachers access cbc.ca/news for additional articles. Ahmed Hussen: From Somali Refugee to Canada's Immigration Minister The Fifty-Sixers Swimming to Freedom: The Incredible Story of Yahya Samatar (CBC Radio) Syrian Refugee Crisis: Lessons from Vietnamese Boat People Voyage of the Black Dragon Closed Captioning News in Review programs are closed captioned for the hearing impaired, for English as a Second Language students, or for situations in which the additional on-screen print component will enhance learning. CBC Learning authorizes reproduction of material contained in this guide for educational purposes. Please identify source. News in Review is distributed by: Curio.ca CBC Media Solutions www.curio.ca 2017 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Video Review Before Viewing Canada and the United States share the longest undefended border in the world. Sure, there are border stations but, for the most part, what separates the two nations are lakes, rivers, forests and farmland. In fact, parts of some towns are located in both countries. The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the Canada-U.S. border between Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont. Upstairs, the concert venue s main stage and first few rows of seating are located in Stanstead, the rest over 40 per cent of the seats are located in Derby Line. Downstairs, the building s entrance and main access point for the library is located in Derby Line. Canadians can enter the building without a passport but are not allowed to step off the sidewalk (too deep into U.S. territory?) on their way inside. There is no way to distinguish between Canada and the U.S., Quebec and Vermont, or Stanstead and Derby Line other than a bit of signage, some lines on the ground and local knowledge. 1. How could this open border point be abused? Why should authorities be concerned? 2. What does the open border say about the relationship between Canada and the U.S.? Viewing 1. Why are asylum seekers flooding across the border from the U.S. into Canada? 2. What did CBC reporter Susan Ormiston discover when she met with travelers arriving in Plattsburgh, New York? Where were the travelers heading? 3. Why are asylum seekers willing to be arrested by the RCMP if they cross the border from the U.S. into Canada? 4. How did some of the asylum seekers find out about the Roxham Road route? 5. Why are asylum seekers choosing Canada over the U.S.? What is it about the political climate in the U.S. that is causing them to make a run for the border? 6. a) How many people crossed the border into Canada in August 2017? How many of those people were children? b) How many people have made the trek into Canada via Roxham Road in 2017? 7. Which nationalities represent the highest percentage of people seeking to leave the U.S. and enter Canada? 8. Why was the owner of Plattsburgh s Northern Taxi fined? What was he doing to prompt authorities to issue a fine? 9. What history does the Plattsburgh, New York, and Roxham Road have with respect to /1
people crossing from the U.S. into Canada? When was the road used in the past? 10. How easy is it to jump the border into Canada? 11. What is the downside of the Roxham Road illegal border crossing? 12. Why is Aisha, the Nigerian asylum seeker featured in the video, so desperate to come to Canada? 13. Who is Brad Brant? What is his job? 14. How frequently is the Tree Farm in Swanton used by asylum seekers to enter Canada? 15. Why are the maple tree sap lines sometimes a hindrance to both border jumpers and border agents? 16. What role do locals living on the undefended border play in the reporting of suspicious people moving north and south? 17. How cooperative is the RCMP in dealing with the U.S. Border Patrol? After Viewing CBC News Who is a refugee? cbc.ca/news/world/who is a refugee 1.119150 A refugee is a person who is seeking protection from a country under the 1951 U.N. Convention on the Status of Refugees. An asylum seeker is a person whose claim for refugee status is undetermined; in other words, it is being sought outside the 1951 U.N. protocol. To put this in perspective, take a look at the following numbers. People coming to Canada 2016 2017 Immigrants 300 000 300 000 Refugees 50 000 31 000 Asylum seekers (all) 25 000 36 000 Asylum seekers (crossing at illegal border points) 2 500 15 000 (13 000 in Quebec) Keep in mind that the total number of people coming to Canada in 2017 will be approximately 300 000. Of the 300 000, approximately 31 000 will be applying as refugees and another 36 000 will be seeking admission to Canada as asylum seekers. Of the 36 000 asylum seekers, 15 000 crossed at illegal border points like the one on Roxham Road in Saint-Bernard-De-Lacolle, Quebec. 1. What was your initial reaction when you first reviewed these statistics? Do any of these statistics surprise you? 2. Some people view asylum seekers as line jumpers because they are essentially jumping around the line-up of refugees who are seeking refugee status through a proper application process. Do you think asylum seekers give themselves an unfair advantage by crossing into Canada at illegal border points? 3. Does Canada need to tighten up its borders? Keep in mind, immigration is helping the Canadian economy grow. If you stop the influx of people, you risk major disruptions to the economic growth Canada has been enjoying for years. /2
THE STORY The longest undefended border in the world A symbol of peace, mutual cooperation and friendship this is how the world has viewed the undefended border that separates Canada and the United States of America. However, this oft admired line of demarcation is becoming known for other reasons. Suddenly, the undefended border has become a convenient way for would-be refugees to flee the United States and enter Canada in the wake of President Donald Trump s angry and inflammatory rhetoric aimed at immigrants as well as policies that target certain immigrant groups. Thus, the exodus north is seeing Canadian border towns flooded with asylum seekers from around the world seeking a hasty exit from Trump s America. Why are they fleeing? So, why are they fleeing? Since President Trump took power in January 2017, he has enacted a series of executive orders aimed at stemming the flow of immigrants into the United States. He has also tightened up the refugee claim process. Specifically, shortly after assuming the presidency, Trump issued a travel ban for citizens attempting to enter the U.S. from a number of Muslim-majority population countries. The policy was expanded at one point to include people from Venezuela. Trump has also signed an executive order dealing with the building of a wall between Mexico and the United States designed to keep Mexican criminals out of the U.S. The president even lifted a provision of protective status for Haitian immigrants who fled their native land in 2010 after a devastating earthquake. Trump vowed deportation for those refusing to return to Haiti starting in January 2018. In response to the president s attack on immigrants, Prime Minister Trudeau tweeted, Those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you regardless of your faith. /3
The ultimate effect of the travel ban, the wall plan and Trump s anti-immigration rhetoric was to make recent immigrant populations in the U.S. fear that their status in the country was in jeopardy. Some people who had expired or expiring travel visas opted to make a run for the true north, strong and free rather than wait for Trump s next move. In 2017, Canada received 36 000 asylum claims across the country. Just under half of these claims came from people crossing into Canada at illegal border points. The border-jumpers Logic would dictate that, people fearing deportation from the U.S., might make their way north into Canada. However, an agreement between the two countries called the Safe Third Country Agreement was crafted to prevent that strategy. The agreement gave border agents the power to turn away asylum seekers at established border points if it looked like those involved were asylum shopping. In other words, a person could not come from another part of the world, enter the U.S. and, figuring that their asylum claim was likely going to be denied, make their way to Canada at seek asylum or vice versa. However, there was one loophole in the agreement: it only dealt with people crossing at established border points; if someone just crossed from the U.S. into Canada across a river or a farmer s field or by crossing a road, the Safe Third Country Agreement was not in play. This meant that authorities on either side of the border would have to look at asylum claims for anyone sneaking into the country regardless of the bilateral agreement. From a trickle to a wave Fearing repercussions in light of the policies and rhetoric of President Trump, it didn t take long for asylum seekers to discover the easiest places to cross from the U.S. into Canada. Suddenly, Surrey, B.C., Gretna and Emmerson, Manitoba, and Saint-Bernard-De-Lacolle and Stanstead, Quebec, became the go-to border-jumping hotspots. Once it became clear that the trickle of asylum seekers was turning into a wave, police began gathering at the illegal crossing areas and arresting border jumpers. However, the border jumpers knew that the arrest was just step one; step two involved the government of Canada taking a hard look at their asylum claim. How did asylum seekers discover the illegal border crossing point in Surrey, B.C., Gretna and Emmerson, Manitoba, and Saint Bernard De Lacolle and Stanstead, Quebec? The internet of course specifically, social media posts and messages shared within affected groups. In early 2017, Emerson Manitoba, saw the first wave of illegal immigrants arrive. By the end of the summer close to 800 had crossed. It seemed that at some point, perhaps in late June, the torch was passed from Emerson to Saint-Bernard-De-Lacolle, Quebec, as a tidal wave of asylum seekers made their way up Roxham Road and into the waiting arms of the RCMP in Canada. Over 8 500 asylum seekers, mostly Haitian, crossed the border in July and August. Authorities were eventually forced to set up 1 500 beds in Montreal s Olympic Stadium to give the asylum seekers a place to stay while the first stages of their applications /4
were being processed. At times, close to 300 people were crossing the border from Vermont into Quebec every day. The refugee backlog By the end of October 2017, over 15 000 border jumpers had made their way into Canada. Combine these numbers with those who crossed at established border points and the number sky rockets to close to 36 000. Since Canada s Immigration and Refugee Board can only process 24 000 refugee applications a year, and there was already a backlog from 2016, an anticipated 40 000 applications are expected to be waiting for review by years end. From year to year, around 62 per cent of refugee applications are granted by the Canadian government. To Consider 1. Why are people fleeing the U.S. and coming to Canada? 2. Why are people choosing to cross into Canada at illegal border crossings? What bilateral agreement are they trying to bypass? 3. Why are Haitians leaving the U.S. and coming to Canada? Where are they making the crossing? In the meantime, no concrete plans are in place to turn people away at the illegal border crossings. Border staff will continue to be diverted to places like Roxham Road to handle people fleeing the U.S. in favour of Canada. After the border jumping story remained in the headlines for much of the past year, 71 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they wanted more security along the U.S. border. /5
THE NEW UNDERGROUND RAILROAD In their February 2017 article on the influx of people fleeing U.S. President Trump s antiimmigration policies by seeking asylum in Canada, Macleans magazine referred to the run to varying illegal border crossings as the New Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad Designed by people seeking to abolish slavery, the original Underground Railroad was an escape route that helped direct African American slaves out of the U.S. into Canada. The original Underground Railroad helped free close to 100 000 slaves from the late 1700s to the mid 1800s. Use of the Underground Railroad peaked from 1850 to 1865 the time preceding and during the U.S. Civil War. Slavery was the issue that divided the U.S. along moral and economic lines with the Unionist states in the North opposing slavery and Confederate states in the South supporting slavery. At the end of the war, the Unionist victory led to the abolition of slavery in the United States. Here s how it worked: in the late 1700s, abolitionist groups in and around Philadelphia began coming up with ways to smuggle slaves from enslaved states to free states to the North. Eventually a clandestine network of routes was established and slaves living in the South were able to find safe passage north. By 1830, people were referring to the network of routes as the Underground Railway even though very few ever used an actual railroad to lead slaves to freedom. However, the abolitionists did use railway terminology: a conductor (abolitionist, freed slave, sympathizer) helped a passenger (enslaved person) with their journey, ferrying them to stations (safe houses) and terminals (larger cities that acted as transportation hubs) en route to freedom in either a free state in the North or Canada. An estimated 30 000 to 40 000 slaves made their way to Canada, mostly settling in Ontario. Some former slaves wound up in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They traveled overland by foot, wagon, carriage, horses and (occasionally) train. They also traveled by boat across lakes, seas and rivers. Trump inspires new underground railroad The new underground railroad features crossing points in Surrey, B.C., Emmerson, Manitoba, Fort Erie, Ontario, and Saint-Bernard- De-Lacolle, Quebec. Immigrants and refugees have been making their way into Canada and the United States for years. Many of these people have been seeking an escape from conflict, disease and poverty. A large number of people have been granted refugee status as in the case of the 40 000 Syrian refugees Canada accepted in 2016. However, others have traveled to the U.S. and Canada and just let their travel, work or study visas expire, making the conscious choice to live in either country illegally. Once this decision is made, the illegal immigrants just wait to see if the authorities catch up with them. It had been a winning strategy up until very recently. Things changed dramatically for immigrants to the U.S. with the election of Donald Trump in November 2016. Trump ran on an antiimmigration, anti-refugee platform that, once he assumed office, sent thousands of people running for the Canadian border. They did this /6
because they assumed that Trump would make good on his threats to deport people with expired visas and improper paperwork. So, they came by bus and train to points north, using social media to network information about the most porous Canadian border areas. By November 2017, close to 36 000 people had sought asylum in Canada, with over 15 000 of those people crossing at illegal border points. The new underground railroad, while in its infancy, looks like it is going to be around for a while. TRY THIS! Go to the Black History Canada site (blackhistorycanada.com) to learn more about the Underground Railroad. Check out the EVENTS tab and investigate the circumstances surrounding the formation of the Underground Railroad To Consider 1. What is the Underground Railroad? How did it work? 2. What is the new underground railroad? Why did it come into existence? /7