The Canadian Council of Churches, Amnesty International and the Canadian Council for Refugees are headed to the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of refugee families who want a legal way to apply for asylum at Canada’s land borders.

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Idalia Reyes remembers the desperation that drove her to seek out smugglers to take her children, unaccompanied, to the United States. Reyes and her children lived in a tent camp along the Rio Grande, where they endured crime, cold snaps and infestations of insects and snakes.

With an Oct. 26 ruling that keeps the status quo at the U.S.-Canada border, asylum seekers will continue to be sent back into indefinite detention in American jails before eventually being deported back to the countries they are fleeing.

The federal government’s decision to appeal a court ruling that puts an international refugee agreement with the United States at risk is disappointing but not surprising to refugee advocacy and church groups that have long sought to have the Safe Third Country Agreement scuttled.

Canada’s Federal Court has ruled the country’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by sending refugees who arrive at Canada’s land borders back to detention in the United States. 

Denying refugee claimants entry to Canada at the United States border during the COVID-19 pandemic is dangerous, immoral and legally dubious, says a Catholic law professor and other refugee advocates.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court issued an unsigned order late Sept. 11 that will temporarily allow the Trump administration to enforce its new rule preventing many Central American migrants from seeking asylum in the United States, while the legal battle over this issue continues to work its way through the courts.

Ottawa - A government crackdown on asylum seekers who enter Canada at “irregular” border crossings has refugee advocates crying foul.

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico – Gangs in Honduras first threatened Denia Garcia’s husband six months ago, telling him to join with them or die. Her husband, a police officer, fled to the United States, arriving successfully.

The victory of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in the recent Quebec election reflects the growing acceptance of political parties vowing to tighten immigration policies and numbers. 

How little it takes. How few people cross our borders before we allow narratives of fear to start taking hold of us. 

The Church, with its long history of serving the poor and the persecuted, must play a key role in dealing with the global migration crisis.