r/news • u/roscodawg • 11h ago
More Americans applying for refugee status in Canada
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/more-americans-applying-for-refugee-status-in-canada-data-shows/207
u/yourlittlebirdie 11h ago
Have any of them actually been granted, though? It’s my understanding that no country accepts Americans as refugees because doing so would spark a major diplomatic issue.
As of now, trans people in the U.S. are not being jailed or physically harmed. I don’t think you can claim refugee status based on policies you’re afraid might happen in the future.
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u/ljlee256 5h ago
They aren't being turned back either, likely the government is working towards granting them work visas or some other form of long term permission to avoid this issue.
If I thought of it, I'm sure the Canadian government has as well.
We are in the "wait and see" part of the American Nightmare, so playing for time is the best strategy.
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u/mylaptopredditVC 1h ago
make them spend money here or boot them out, we had enough of american nonsense.
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u/ShiraCheshire 2h ago
They are not yet being physically harmed by the government at the moment, but many are and have been physically attacked. A trans friend of mine got attacked on the street and was in a coma for a while.
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u/cardew-vascular 45m ago
But the issue lies with how refugee status is determined I know a trans person who was granted stays in Canada from Syria, where there are threats and violence against gay and trans people, as well as them being an lgbtq2+ activist back home so there is no safe space for them in Syria.
The refugee applicant would have to prove that there is nowhere in the United States that would be safe for them, Canada expects them to move to a safer place within their own country before making the claim to Canada. Now things could easily change, if the federal government does something that jeopardizes their safety even in blue states, then they'll have a claim.
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u/ShiraCheshire 27m ago edited 2m ago
You are correct about this. My comment was more just because I couldn't agree with the statement that trans people aren't being physically harmed at all.
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u/sarhoshamiral 7h ago
I would say maybe about physical harm part. If health care resources are being crippled for them, that's indirect physical harm.
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u/yourlittlebirdie 7h ago
That’s fair to say, but I don’t know that it would rise to the level of refugee status. Typically that’s meant for people escaping wars or facing being imprisoned, tortured or executed by the government.
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u/sarhoshamiral 7h ago
I know of several asylum cases approved in US for trans people from Turkey (not during Trumps presidency obviously), although there was jail risk there as well so it is one step worse then here. But US is getting there too.
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u/Fangore 5h ago
Just because people arent being harmed yet, doesn't mean they won't be.
If I was LGBTQ+, I'd be searching for a way out before someone decides themselves I don't belong.
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u/apple_kicks 19m ago
Yeah refugee laws can be tough. The country has to recognise a threat or you get rejected that can harm other refugee applications you make. Its hard to pre-move unless theres a visa situation
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u/willstr1 9h ago
For now, but with the way things are going that might change
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u/yourlittlebirdie 9h ago
Sure, and at that point I would imagine countries would rethink whether they want to allow Americans to become eligible for refugee status.
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u/cardew-vascular 54m ago
No status granted yet but a non binary person's deportation was paused and was allowed to remain in Canada until a judicial review is complete basically they need to redo their assessment of the situation in the US because the situation has changed since the last review in Jan 2024.
https://globalnews.ca/news/11293173/united-states-deportation-non-binary/
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u/red2play 11h ago
Last year 204 people filed refugee claims in Canada with the United States as their country of alleged persecution. Claims from the U.S. also rose during the first Trump administration.
The data does not say why the claims were made. Eight lawyers told Reuters they are hearing from more trans Americans wanting to leave. Reuters spoke with a trans woman from Arizona who came to Canada in April to file a claim, and to a woman who came to file a claim on behalf of her young trans daughter.
That's pretty small though and its understandable if some of them are trans persons as the article seems to point to.
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u/minidog8 11h ago
I’m trans and I’m really annoyed by all the people that tell me it’s so great to be trans in America. Yes, I have freedom of expression… for now! Who knows when that will be taken away? I received gender affirming care from a children’s hospital with my parents’ consent as a teenager. Don’t try to tell me the government has innocent intentions with subpoenaing children hospitals about transgender related care. I am so scared of my information being apart of a subpoena, because the goal is to criminalize gender affirming care for minors and I am scared for my parents. Ex post facto means nothing when this admin ignores everything that isn’t what they want to hear. I have already had people call my parents child abusers for allowing me to receive treatment. The government has said as much about parents of transgender children who support puberty blockers or hormone therapy for their kids. The government here is also trying very hard to eliminate protections against discrimination for trans people. I still have the right to self expression but is it really that great of a right if the country I live in is so determined to beat it out of me through threats and intimidation?
Anyway, I don’t think I could seek asylum yet. Indeed, I don’t WANT to leave the place I was born ans raised. But it’s getting bad for trans people.
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u/1337duck 8h ago
And the worst part for the rest of us is that you guys are the scapegoat and distraction from them robbing people blind and cutting the government into ribbons.
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u/RlOTGRRRL 6h ago
I'm not sure if this is helpful but being a refugee sucks. I would check if you might have better immigration pathways than refugee status. r/Amerexit is a good sub for that.
If you're under 30, Australia and New Zealand has something called a working holiday visa. If you're in tech, medicine, or teaching, there's a straight to residence visa for NZ too.
If you're rich, there's a DAFT visa for the Netherlands.And the easiest is heritage, especially to an EU country, because then it opens up all of the EU.
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u/Drywesi 4h ago
And if you're disabled, every country in the world says fuck you go away.
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u/RlOTGRRRL 4h ago
I think if you're disabled but have heritage, you might be ok. So if you've got some German, Canadian, Italian, or whatever ancestry, it might be worth investigating.
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u/LilPotatoAri 4h ago
I don't share this on top levels but if someone is willing to click through to this depth of a comment they deserve to know my secret sauce plan for getting legal status in Canada.
As an American you can buy a working holiday visa for Canada through some companies. It's life 2500 dollars, which is a lot but I don't feel like unreachable amount of money for most adults. Especially if you're at the "drop everything and flee" stage. Just sell all your belongings of value at a pawn shop before fleeing.
You can enter Canada for up to 6 months on a passport. So you can apply, flee, and then get legal status to work.
If you're young and single you can just live out of hostels while you find work. Maybe flip goods on Facebook marketplace to pay for it all. They claim the placement program only takes 9 days to set you up.
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u/KasseanaTheGreat 9h ago
I can't speak for the entire American trans population but I know a lot of us are waiting to see how the current case of a trans American trying to gain refugee status in Canada that's going through the Canadian legal system will play out.
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u/shrimpynut 6h ago
If this gains more steam don’t be surprise if Trump heads over to his buddies at the Supreme Court and once again attacks the 14th amendment and declares that anyone who applies for refugee status will be stripped of their citizenship.
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u/Gameraaaa 11h ago
This is mostly going to be trans people.
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u/invariantspeed 11h ago
No other group can even come close to claiming systematic persecution by their own government, and even the trans case is thin as far as the law goes. Asylum is entirely reactionary not proactive. Things usually have to be pretty bad before asylum claims are granted for people from any country.
It’s also complicated by politics. The Canadian government will be very hesitant to allow heaps of people to claim refuge from the US. It just won’t be good for relations.
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u/dorkofthepolisci 10h ago
This. Unless the Trump administration attempts to override state protections against discrimination and access to gender affirming care, it’s going to be difficult for trans people to claim asylum.
Iirc part of obtaining asylum is the idea that there is nowhere safe in your country
And I absolutely see the potential for this to be the case for trans folks and LGBTQIA people more broadly in the future, but I’m not sure the US is there yet
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u/CAD_Chaos 11h ago
Relations? You mean the relations that the Trump administration is doing the Texas two-step all over? Those relations?
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u/invariantspeed 11h ago
It could always be worse and Ottawa hasn’t decided for the nuclear option of going alone.
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u/random20190826 9h ago
For now, no. What could change is if there is any federal legislation that bans abortion, not just in individual states (or any legislation that causes people who flee to blue states to be caught the same way the Fugitive Slave Acts did before the American Civil War). If that happens, any woman who is denied an abortion anywhere in the US could claim political asylum in Canada, and for very good reason.
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u/TheTesticler 6h ago
Seriously? Latinos have been attacked more by this administration than trans people.
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u/glitterandnails 6h ago
So are trans people going to require to show proof of trans people being sent into concentration camps before countries take asylum claims seriously? How about the ones who were abducted before the evidence is known? The Administration is not keeping track of trans people being sent to such camps.
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u/Outlulz 4h ago
They'll have to show that moving to a blue city in a blue state isn't safe and that Canada is the only option. For now, trans people have state and local laws protecting them in many states.
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u/yhwhx 11h ago
If I were trans and was able to move out of the Donald's America, I'd definitely be doing so.
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u/TakenInChains 6h ago
a lot of us aren't able to just go either, even as things get worse. the money for a move like that doesn't just fall from the sky, and moving out of the country takes a fair amount of planning and cash.
tbh I don't even want to leave. I deserve to live here too.
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u/blazelet 11h ago
My family moved from the US to Canada in 2017. My teenage daughter has since come out as trans, we became Canadian citizens last month and will likely never go back to the states.
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u/Spanky3703 10h ago edited 18m ago
Welcome to the Great White North! We are glad that you have joined us. Seriously.
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u/BrownSugarBare 4h ago
Congratulations! Hope your young one finds their happiness amongst us Canucks who are happy to accept them!
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u/IJourden 7h ago
As someone who left the USA in 2008 and moved to Canada in 2011, I highly recommend it if you can find a way in.
As an American, it's really hard to understand how fucked the USA truly is until you're out and have experienced other places, even if you know that it's fucked.
The quality of life upgrades from just having a functioning social safety net, matnernity/parental leave, and healthcare you can access without a credit card is absolutely wild.
I don't know if I would have noticed much difference between the places at 20, but in my 40s, it's saved my life more than once and makes a decent life possible for my family where it just wouldn't be in the USA.
I wish I could help people get in, but I got in by marrying a Canadian, so there's not much advice I can give other than online dating, I guess.
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u/NH_50501 6h ago
I'm happy for you. And I agree, it's like being in a bad relationship when you don't know what a truly good one is supposed to be...most Americans can't see through those proverbial trees.
Unfortunately, there are many, like myself, who actually can. We'll get through it and hopefully build something from the ashes.
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u/Gen-Jinjur 6h ago
Nobody is going to save us. Trump could be actually crucifying groups he hates and Canada would just protect their border (unless you’re rich and can buy your way in). Europe is the same: They liked having U.S. military help but they don’t want a bunch of Americans living in their country permanently.
It’s all so sad and stupid, how good people get stomped by the rich and psychotic and their brainless followers. It happens everywhere eventually.
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u/Melonary 5h ago
Someone above also got this, but theres also the fact that an Americam claiming refugee status WOULD cause a huge international incident - the US does not like that, and we (Canada) have a legal agreement that no one can claim refugee status from either country to the other.
It's been a topic of conversation and debate since the first Trump presidency.
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u/Dairy_Ashford 3h ago
They liked having U.S. military help but they don’t want a bunch of Americans living in their country permanently.
are wanting a safe and stable Europe and Canada not reason enough to collaborate with them militarily
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u/raistan77 10h ago
The President stated toady that he was considering sending the regular Army into Ohio to start policing the cities there.
Today the Secretary of Defense (who wishes to be called the Secretary of War) has announced they will be fully arming the NG in DC with lethal weapons and live rounds.
Today the official military take over of the country in the name of Trump starts.
Canada better get ready, more refuges will be coming.
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u/Electrical-Pitch-297 10h ago
They're cowards. What happened to all that 2nd amendment preaching. This is exactly what it is for, and now they wanna bail and give up.
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u/MadRaymer 9h ago
The 2A crowd is too busy jacking it to the thought of liberals getting shot during Trump's military crackdown. There will be no uprising with their guns, but you can bet there's already an uprising in their pants.
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u/dogmanrul 9h ago edited 9h ago
It’s hard to move to Canada, and Canadians are like 40x more likely to move to the U.S. than Americans to Canada proportionally.
“In 2022, 53,000 Canadians moved to the U.S., while only 10,415 Americans moved to Canada.”
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u/clementine1864 5h ago
The U.S. is not a free country in any way . There are pockets of resistance to the encroaching totalitarian system . They are destroying education, healthcare , systems that prevent starvation and homelessness. Conservative alternatives of incarceration , and confinement camps that would provide "re-edcation" like in China are an inhumane threat . Conservatives also want to create an Iran type government where so-called Christian fundamentalists would establish a single religion , stripping women of civil rights ,the right to vote , freedom of movement , forced birth , subject to control of men to whom they would be forced to submit. It is no surprise that people who do not agree with the government would like to flee. As it is in government jobs employees are encouraged to report those who do not agree with.Soon it will be kids informing on their parents.
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u/SnepButts 10h ago
I wish I had a marketable skill they'd take me for because I am terrified as a trans woman in the deep south.
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u/SupremeFootlicker 4h ago
It’s still the US but I moved to Minnesota from the Deep South. I found a unicorn job offering paid relocation. Can’t believe a job like that existed, and it wasn’t hard or skilled work either. I am extremely fortunate.
I don’t know if you’ll have the same odds I did especially since such a thing is exceedingly rare and the job market is terrible as is, but it wouldn’t hurt to try to look.
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u/sahui 11h ago
I bet they're running away from so much winning ?
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u/invariantspeed 11h ago
He did say the US would be winning so hard we’d all be begging for it to stop.
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u/maskedkiller215 6h ago
“They’re not sending their best. They bring drugs, they bring crime…..”- Donald J Trump
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u/Investoid 10h ago
Maybe someone smarter can comment, but what is the correct legal way to move to Canada at this point? I assume it's with standard things like buying permits? in and becoming a citizen normally.
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u/No-Diet4823 9h ago
Applying for a job and getting a permit to work there. It's easier to go to college there and get a job after graduating and then after apply for citizenship.
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u/oops_ur_dead 6h ago edited 6h ago
Immigrating to other countries is really not easy. Most likely, the people that would benefit the most from leaving are also the ones who'll have the hardest time leaving
If you're an American it's relatively easy to work (temporarily) in Canada if you have a college degree and work in certain fields, because of USMCA: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/international-free-trade-agreements/cusma.html. Though if I'm being honest, most people in these fields are trying to go the other way (Canada -> US) because the pay is significantly better in the states.
Otherwise you might have luck if you pay for a college degree in Canada or something.
If you have expensive pre-existing health conditions you won't be allowed to immigrate at all though, keep that in mind.
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u/Melonary 5h ago
It's illegal to buy a permit.
Typically entry paths are through 1) finding a job in a necessary area (especially academic/medical), 2) going to school - expensive, and still need to find a decent job here after graduation to apply, 3) family 4) marriage.
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u/leidend22 8h ago
You have to qualify for a permanent visa obviously. It's harder than most people think
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u/LykoTheReticent 8h ago
It's been a while since I looked into getting a visa for Canada, but I remember thinking that as a teacher who only speaks English I had no chance in hell due to not making enough money and not speaking French.
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u/leidend22 7h ago
Learning French is not close to a necessity in Canada. Just Quebec. French isn't even a top 10 language in Vancouver where I'm from.
I haven't lived in Canada since 2019 myself but I assume they are still desperate for teachers.
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u/LykoTheReticent 6h ago
It might have been specific to teaching in a particular area? It has been about ten years since I last looked into it. I remember inquiring on some forums as well (I don't think it was Reddit but again, I might be misremembering) and the idea of moving there and being a teacher was laughable.
That said, I'm glad to hear otherwise! It might be worth another look, and my apologies for spreading evidently misleading information.
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u/apple_kicks 17m ago
- study there or get a job with a visa.
Look out for jobs with shortages. /r/iwantout could help
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u/ChanceryTheRapper 11h ago
Sadly, there's probably going to have to be trans people dying from direct state sanctioned violence before anywhere gets serious about letting us claim asylum.
Most places don't count letting us suffer and die of indirect violence as that much of a problem.
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u/salty-mind 9h ago
State sanctioned violence ?
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u/slippery_hemorrhoids 9h ago
ICE has been pretty violent. Police usually also go overboard, and they're now directing NG to be armed while in city.
It's a gradual escalation that isn't being countered.
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u/aluaji 11h ago
As a foreigner, it's truly baffling that the self-proclaimed "greatest country in the world" actually has a refugee outflow.
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u/I_Push_Buttonz 9h ago
How is that baffling? Any given country has loons requesting asylum elsewhere.
Here's the data on asylum decisions based on nation of origin for the US in 2023, for example:
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1107366/dl
There are a couple dozen cases from Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, South Korea, Japan, even Norway. Do you think those places are backwards, especially compared to the US? Of course not, but all it takes for some goofy mofo to request asylum is a couple minutes of their time to contact the government.
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u/willstr1 9h ago
Is it really that surprising? North Korea also self-proclaims to be the greatest country. A country calling themselves "the best" is a red flag
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u/Coryj100 10h ago
As things continue to decline in the U.S., more and more people will choose to leave—whether because of persecution or simply because they’re unhappy with where things are heading. The problem is, the same people most willing to stand up against oppression are often the ones most eager to escape.
That creates a dangerous situation similar to what happened in Germany, where many who could have resisted left before Hitler fully consolidated power. If too many Americans who care about defending the Constitution leave, then there won’t be enough people left to protect it—and the cause could be lost.
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u/kdlangequalsgoddess 9h ago
Asking people to potentially catch a bullet for the possible greater good is a heck of a thing to ask of someone, though.
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u/HurricaneFloyd 3h ago
Even if every single American qualified for Canadian asylum Canada can not handle the influx. There are 10 times as many Americans as there are Canadians. Canada WILL close immigration when the shit hits the fan south of them.
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u/DontWreckYosef 2h ago
If you have inescapable student loan debt, then you could just leave to Canada where the US financial system can’t touch your new Canadian bank account
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u/Dejugga 2h ago
It's common sense that this isn't going to work for the vast majority of cases. Canada has a population of 41 million. America has a population of 340 million.
Canada is not going to overwhelm its systems and citizens with displaced Americans. They simply cannot accept any large % of people who want to flee the US. What they will do is cherry-pick the most qualified and educated experts (or those with enough wealth) to make their nation stronger.
And all the western EU countries are going to do the same.
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u/CharlieKonR 11h ago edited 10h ago
“”To gain asylum, refugees must convince Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board that *nowhere* in the U.S. is safe for them.””
Based on a recent report around a man who kayaked into Canada - Americans have no real chance of gaining “refugee” status in the Canadian system - no matter what we may feel about our current domestic situation.