Originally published in the Toronto Star on 3 May 2025.
President Trump and his administration have triggered what many experts are calling a “constitutional crisis” in the United States. In only 90 days in office, Trump has already ordered a staggering number of unconstitutional actions to consolidate power and to suppress dissent.
Among them is the recent mass deportation of 300 Venezuelan and Salvadoran immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador, against a federal judge’s order. The judge verbally ordered the planes, while mid-flight, to return to the U.S. The Trump administration refused to comply and to provide information to the court. Trump then called for the impeachment of the judge who issued the ruling.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Trump to bring back one of those deportees, Kilmar Ábrego García, who was placed in custody due to an “administrative error,” without having been charged nor convicted of any crime. Trump has publicly and brazenly defied this order as well. These two examples, against a backdrop of increasing hostility for fundamental freedoms and due process, reveal a rapid descent in the U.S. towards authoritarianism.
This should be a wake-up call to Canadians. We currently have agreements in place with the U.S., in particular the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), based on our government’s assessment that the U.S. is “an open democracy with independent courts, separation of powers and constitutional guarantees of essential human rights and fundamental freedoms.” This is clearly no longer the case.
The U.S. is the only country that Canada has designated as a “safe third country” under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which means that genuine asylum seekers, fleeing danger and persecution, can be turned back at the U.S.-Canada border. In 2021, I explained why the STCA is antithetical to our values as Canadians. In the intervening years, the risk of permanent and enduring harm to asylum seekers in the U.S. has only intensified.
The ”safe third country” designation is not permanent, and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has a responsibility, under law, to regularly review the factors used to make the determination. It is urgent for Canada to engage in this exercise now, and to suspend the STCA, just as refugee and human rights lawyers have long advocated.
The first factor is whether the country is a party to the Refugee Convention and to the Convention Against Torture. While the U.S. has not signed the Refugee Convention of 1951, it did accede to the Refugee Protocol of 1967 and has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture.
The second factor is whether the country’s policies and practices comply with these Conventions. The answer is an unequivocal no. Human rights experts have outlined the many ways the U.S. violates the Refugee Protocol and the Convention Against Torture, daily. For example, in 2021, Human Rights Watch revealed at least 160 cases of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, alongside due process violations by U.S. border officials.
The third factor is whether the country respects human rights. In the words of the Canadian government, “only countries that respect human rights and offer a high degree of protection to asylum seekers may be designated as safe third countries.” The U.S.’s “war on migrants” offers anything but protection to asylum seekers. But Trump’s war has also expanded to include birthright citizens, transgender people, federal employees, foreign aid workers, Palestine human rights activists, lawyers, judges, universities, and even the International Criminal Court.
Given the overwhelming evidence that the U.S. does not respect human rights, exemplified by the indiscriminate brutality of Trump’s recent mass deportations, there is no other possible conclusion than to withdraw from the STCA.
Any decision short of this would be wilful blindness to the dangers of Trump’s presidency. Continuing with business as usual makes Canada even more complicit in the U.S.’s harmful migration policies, including enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions. As a distinct and independent country, with our own Canadian values, why keep up this charade?
President Trump and his administration have triggered what many experts are calling a “constitutional crisis” in the United States. In only 90 days in office, Trump has already ordered a staggering number of unconstitutional actions to consolidate power and to suppress dissent.
Among them is the recent mass deportation of 300 Venezuelan and Salvadoran immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador, against a federal judge’s order. The judge verbally ordered the planes, while mid-flight, to return to the U.S. The Trump administration refused to comply and to provide information to the court. Trump then called for the impeachment of the judge who issued the ruling.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Trump to bring back one of those deportees, Kilmar Ábrego García, who was placed in custody due to an “administrative error,” without having been charged nor convicted of any crime. Trump has publicly and brazenly defied this order as well. These two examples, against a backdrop of increasing hostility for fundamental freedoms and due process, reveal a rapid descent in the U.S. towards authoritarianism.
This should be a wake-up call to Canadians. We currently have agreements in place with the U.S., in particular the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), based on our government’s assessment that the U.S. is “an open democracy with independent courts, separation of powers and constitutional guarantees of essential human rights and fundamental freedoms.” This is clearly no longer the case.
The U.S. is the only country that Canada has designated as a “safe third country” under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which means that genuine asylum seekers, fleeing danger and persecution, can be turned back at the U.S.-Canada border. In 2021, I explained why the STCA is antithetical to our values as Canadians. In the intervening years, the risk of permanent and enduring harm to asylum seekers in the U.S. has only intensified.
The ”safe third country” designation is not permanent, and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has a responsibility, under law, to regularly review the factors used to make the determination. It is urgent for Canada to engage in this exercise now, and to suspend the STCA, just as refugee and human rights lawyers have long advocated.
The first factor is whether the country is a party to the Refugee Convention and to the Convention Against Torture. While the U.S. has not signed the Refugee Convention of 1951, it did accede to the Refugee Protocol of 1967 and has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture.
The second factor is whether the country’s policies and practices comply with these Conventions. The answer is an unequivocal no. Human rights experts have outlined the many ways the U.S. violates the Refugee Protocol and the Convention Against Torture, daily. For example, in 2021, Human Rights Watch revealed at least 160 cases of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, alongside due process violations by U.S. border officials.
The third factor is whether the country respects human rights. In the words of the Canadian government, “only countries that respect human rights and offer a high degree of protection to asylum seekers may be designated as safe third countries.” The U.S.’s “war on migrants” offers anything but protection to asylum seekers. But Trump’s war has also expanded to include birthright citizens, transgender people, federal employees, foreign aid workers, Palestine human rights activists, lawyers, judges, universities, and even the International Criminal Court.
Given the overwhelming evidence that the U.S. does not respect human rights, exemplified by the indiscriminate brutality of Trump’s recent mass deportations, there is no other possible conclusion than to withdraw from the STCA.
Any decision short of this would be wilful blindness to the dangers of Trump’s presidency. Continuing with business as usual makes Canada even more complicit in the U.S.’s harmful migration policies, including enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions. As a distinct and independent country, with our own Canadian values, why keep up this charade?