‘Dreamers’ not likely to rush here, experts say
Canadians shouldn’t expect another f l ood of asylum seekers to illegally cross the border in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to scrap a program designed to protect young, undocumented immigrants in the United States, immigration experts say.
Thesit uation of t he roughly 800,000 so- called Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U. S. as children, is very different from that of the Haitians and other asylum seekers who’ve been coming to Canada in large numbers via irregular border crossings, said Ot- tawa immigration lawyer Ronalee Carey.
For one thing, it’s still unclear whether the Dreamers will actually face deportation from the U. S. once the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ( DACA) program ends six months from now.
“If I was a DACA recipient, I would not be trying to come to Canada irregularly,” Carey said. “I think they should sit tight and wait and see what happens.”
U. S. President Donald Trump has given Congress six months to come up with a solution for the Dreamers, so- called because of the proposed DREAM Act, voted down in the Senate in 2010, which would have offered them legal status in exchange for joining the military or attending college. DACA is a stopgap measure, implemented by the Obama administration, that has shielded the Dreamers from deportation but hasn’t given them a path to citizenship.
On Tuesday e vening, Trump tweeted that he will “revisit this issue” if Congress is unable to “legalize DACA” in the next six months. A majority of Ameri cans believe Dreamers, many of whom have grown up speaking English and have attended American universities, should be allowed to stay in the U.S.
Carey said it would be a “huge mess” if the Trump administration actually tried to deport the 800,000 undocumented young people.
If some DACA recipients do head north, they will be unlikely to meet the criteria for refugee status in Canada, she said.
But some could come to Canada t hrough normal immigration streams, like the Express Entry program for skilled workers, which would give them a path to permanent residence. Others could come as international students if they have the money, Carey said.
In fact, at least one Canadian post- secondary institution is already trying to capitalize on the opportunity. Huron University College, in London, Ont., announced Wednesday it will be offering a $ 50,000 scholarship for students affected by the DACA decision.
Even if some Dreamers do decide to brave the odds and seek refugee status in Canada, most wouldn’t need to cross the border illegally to do so, she said, because of an exception in the Safe Third Country Agreement.
Most would- be refugees who try to enter Canada from the U. S. can be turned away at official border crossings and told to make their asylum claims in the U. S., which is why so many have been coming into Canada at unauthorized points.
Asked about a potential influx of Dreamers to Canada, Hursh Jaswal, spokesperson f or Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, said the government “won’t speculate on any possible future trends.”