Trump's Asylum Cruelty on Trial

For two days in March 1911, Canadian border officials held up a train headed north from the U.S., carrying 194 black American passengers. Officials unsuccessfully searched for any reason to block their entry. In the early 20th century, “there was a policy put in place to stop African Americans from moving north during the Great Migration,” explained Jacob Remes, a historian of the U.S.-Canada relationship. “The thing to understand about Canada is that their entire immigration and refugee regime, which is famously very welcoming with some exceptions, is premised on the idea that it’s hard to get to Canada, therefore Canada gets to choose who comes.” That past shows through in a 2004 agreement Canada signed with the United States. Known as a “safe third country agreement,” it requires asylum seekers to apply in the first safe country they reach—and given the usual journey of asylum seekers, that country is invariably the U.S. Read Full Article »