Originally published in The Toronto Star on 3 July 2025.
The US immigration system is collapsing before our eyes and the Canadian government remains willfully blind to the dangers this poses to Canadian citizens, residents, and asylum-seekers. Now that a Canadian man has died in ICE custody, Canada can no longer justify its misplaced US exceptionalism.
Last week, Canadian Johnny Noviello died in a Florida ICE facility at 49 years old. He is one of 13 fatalities in ICE custody this year alone, making it the deadliest year yet for immigration detention in the US. There are currently 55 other Canadians detained by ICE, in “barbaric” and “negligent” conditions according to expert inspectors hired by the US government.
Canadian lawyers and advocates have been sounding the alarm for years, urging Canada to reconsider its close relationship with US immigration authorities. Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, Canada delegates its legal responsibility to process refugee claims to the US while turning back genuine asylum-seekers at the Canada-US border. The US is the only country designated as “safe” for these purposes, on the basis that it is a democratic country that respects human rights.
Yet, the inhumane detention conditions in ICE facilities reveal just one way that US authorities consistently violate human rights. According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, people in US detention experience wide-ranging abuses that include medical neglect, preventable deaths, punitive use of solitary confinement, lack of due process, obstructed access to legal counsel, and discriminatory and racist treatment.
It is against this backdrop that Trump’s administration is aggressively expanding mass deportation efforts, with targets to detain 3000 people a day, in an already strained and broken system. ICE is currently 140% over capacity, with a staggering 59,000 people in custody, which is contributing to rapidly deteriorating detention conditions.
Recent ICE raids in Los Angeles sparked massive protests that have since spread across thousands of US cities. Millions of Americans have mobilised under the “No Kings” slogan to reject Trump’s authoritarianism, including his administration’s defiance of courts, deportation of Americans, enforced disappearance of people, and attacks against civil rights. Trump’s roll back of gender affirming care and elimination of protections for trans people have also triggered a rise in American asylum claims in Canada.
If Canadians can die in US immigration custody, Americans can be deported from their country, and trans people are fleeing the US due to discriminatory and harmful policies, in what reality is the US safe for asylum-seekers and refugees who are among the world’s most vulnerable populations and many of whom identify as LGBTIQ+?
Our government should listen to the courageous crowds fighting to uphold democracy and heed their warnings about US authoritarianism. Instead, Prime Minister Carney has bowed to Trump and his xenophobia. Among Carney’s first orders of business is the Strong Borders Act (also known as Bill C-2) which experts argue breaches civil liberties and gives immigration authorities sweeping new powers to deny refugee claims, cancel existing status documents, and carry out mass deportations.
At a time when Canada should be distinguishing itself from the US and reaffirming our values, which include human rights, dignity, and equality for all, Carney’s administration is doing the opposite through this proposed legislation. Instead of abandoning the Safe Third Country Agreement, the government is expanding it. Instead of strengthening respect for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the government is actively undermining and possibly violating it. Instead of standing for humanity and compassion, the government is capitulating to the US’s harmful vilification of migrants and refugees.
What will this mean for the remaining 55 Canadians languishing in ICE detention facilities or the asylum-seekers coming to Canada through the U.S. border? Empty rhetoric and deadly outcomes.
If you agree that a US-style immigration overhaul in Canada is dangerous and disturbing, ask your Member of Parliament to rescind the Strong Borders Act and to abandon the Safe Third Country Agreement. Our country will be better and safer for all without them.
The US immigration system is collapsing before our eyes and the Canadian government remains willfully blind to the dangers this poses to Canadian citizens, residents, and asylum-seekers. Now that a Canadian man has died in ICE custody, Canada can no longer justify its misplaced US exceptionalism.
Last week, Canadian Johnny Noviello died in a Florida ICE facility at 49 years old. He is one of 13 fatalities in ICE custody this year alone, making it the deadliest year yet for immigration detention in the US. There are currently 55 other Canadians detained by ICE, in “barbaric” and “negligent” conditions according to expert inspectors hired by the US government.
Canadian lawyers and advocates have been sounding the alarm for years, urging Canada to reconsider its close relationship with US immigration authorities. Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, Canada delegates its legal responsibility to process refugee claims to the US while turning back genuine asylum-seekers at the Canada-US border. The US is the only country designated as “safe” for these purposes, on the basis that it is a democratic country that respects human rights.
Yet, the inhumane detention conditions in ICE facilities reveal just one way that US authorities consistently violate human rights. According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, people in US detention experience wide-ranging abuses that include medical neglect, preventable deaths, punitive use of solitary confinement, lack of due process, obstructed access to legal counsel, and discriminatory and racist treatment.
It is against this backdrop that Trump’s administration is aggressively expanding mass deportation efforts, with targets to detain 3000 people a day, in an already strained and broken system. ICE is currently 140% over capacity, with a staggering 59,000 people in custody, which is contributing to rapidly deteriorating detention conditions.
Recent ICE raids in Los Angeles sparked massive protests that have since spread across thousands of US cities. Millions of Americans have mobilised under the “No Kings” slogan to reject Trump’s authoritarianism, including his administration’s defiance of courts, deportation of Americans, enforced disappearance of people, and attacks against civil rights. Trump’s roll back of gender affirming care and elimination of protections for trans people have also triggered a rise in American asylum claims in Canada.
If Canadians can die in US immigration custody, Americans can be deported from their country, and trans people are fleeing the US due to discriminatory and harmful policies, in what reality is the US safe for asylum-seekers and refugees who are among the world’s most vulnerable populations and many of whom identify as LGBTIQ+?
Our government should listen to the courageous crowds fighting to uphold democracy and heed their warnings about US authoritarianism. Instead, Prime Minister Carney has bowed to Trump and his xenophobia. Among Carney’s first orders of business is the Strong Borders Act (also known as Bill C-2) which experts argue breaches civil liberties and gives immigration authorities sweeping new powers to deny refugee claims, cancel existing status documents, and carry out mass deportations.
At a time when Canada should be distinguishing itself from the US and reaffirming our values, which include human rights, dignity, and equality for all, Carney’s administration is doing the opposite through this proposed legislation. Instead of abandoning the Safe Third Country Agreement, the government is expanding it. Instead of strengthening respect for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the government is actively undermining and possibly violating it. Instead of standing for humanity and compassion, the government is capitulating to the US’s harmful vilification of migrants and refugees.
What will this mean for the remaining 55 Canadians languishing in ICE detention facilities or the asylum-seekers coming to Canada through the U.S. border? Empty rhetoric and deadly outcomes.
If you agree that a US-style immigration overhaul in Canada is dangerous and disturbing, ask your Member of Parliament to rescind the Strong Borders Act and to abandon the Safe Third Country Agreement. Our country will be better and safer for all without them.