By Anna Mehler Paperny
TORONTO (Reuters) -A Canadian border-security bill introduced by the Liberal government earlier this week may deny some asylum-seekers a refugee hearing and make it easier for the government to revoke migrants’ status.
The bill comes as the government seeks to address U.S. concerns about its border security and reduce the number of migrants in the country. In addition to denying some refugee hearings and allowing the suspension, cancellation or variance of immigration documents, the bill facilitates sharing people’s information and makes it easier to read people’s mail, among other measures.
President Donald Trump has said Canada had failed to do enough to stem the flow of illicit fentanyl into the U.S., using that as justification for some of his tariffs. This week Trump doubled the tariffs in place on steel and aluminum, prompting calls for Canada to boost retaliatory measures of its own. Late last year Canada pledged C$1.3 billion to beef up its border.
As Canada reduces the number of new permanent and temporary residents, its refugee system faces a historic backlog of more than 280,000 cases.
This week’s bill follows through on some of those border promises as well as on suggestions from some top ministers that Canada would fast-track refusals for some refugee claims.
If the bill passes, asylum-seekers who have been in Canada more than one year would not be eligible for refugee hearings.
Instead, they would have access to a pre-removal risk assessment, meant to determine whether they would be in danger in their country of origin. According to data published by Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Department, 30% of pre-removal risk assessments in 2019 for people deemed ineligible for refugee hearings were approved; by contrast, according to Immigration and Refugee Board data, that year 60% of finalized refugee hearings were approved.
Asylum-seekers who wait two weeks to file claims after crossing from the U.S. to avoid being turned back under a bilateral agreement would also not get hearings.
The bill, which needs to go through multiple readings before the House of Commons votes on it and sends it to the Senate, would also allow the government to “cancel, suspend or vary” immigration documents if deemed in the public interest.
Migrant and refugee advocates worry the changes could leave vulnerable people deported to dangerous situations in their home countries without adequate due process.
A spokesperson for Canada’s Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said on Wednesday that the government recognizes the conditions in people’s home countries may change, but the pre-removal risk assessment will prevent them from being returned to persecution or torture.
“The asylum ineligibilities introduced yesterday seek to maintain protection for those fleeing danger while discouraging misuse that bypasses the asylum system’s function – which is to protect the vulnerable,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
“Canada is reneging on its basic human rights obligations to do individual arbitration,” said Migrant Rights Network spokesperson Syed Hussan.
“This is teeing up a deportation machine.”
(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; editing by Diane Craft)
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