As word spreads that the US government is detaining and placing into deportation a large number of men participating in the Special Registration program, thousands of others are abandoning their homes and lives in the United States to seek asylum in Canada. The NSEERS Special Registration program requires men over the age of 16 to register at local Department of Homeland Security offices because they are citizens of 25 mostly Arabic and Islamic countries. Immigrants who entered the United States illegally, or whose visa expired or has been violated, can be deported or detained when they register.
Many of the men and families who are going to Canada are being sheltered in refugee sanctuaries and run-down motels on the United States side of the border. Some are being assisted by U.S. government-funded agencies until their hearing with Canadian immigration officials. The United States government reportedly believes that the refugee services benefits outweigh their harboring of the undocumented immigrants.
The sanctuaries have generally been charged with helping people get asylum in the United States, but are now helping people gain asylum in Canada. These men know that going before the DHS means being locked up in jail while they wait to be deported. Canada is generally believed to have more lenient immigration policies than its neighbor to the south, and it has not enacted post-September 11th regulations similar to those of the United States requiring stricter monitoring of men from the listed countries. Canadian immigration officials generally do not detain asylum seekers and such individuals are often allowed to work.
Some immigration restriction advocates oppose U.S. agencies assisting illegal immigrants in circumventing the law. Immigration restriction advocacy groups like the Center for Immigration Studies believe that illegal immigrants should not have assistance in hiding from American immigration authorities. According to the Safe Third Country Agreement, an accord between the United States and Canada that goes into effect later this year, an immigrant can only seek asylum in the country he originally entered. There are many who believe that this accord would put an end to the situation.
Freedom House in Detroit is a nonprofit charity that has helped nearly 300 people seek asylum in Canada since January. David Koelsch, an attorney at Freedom House, believes that many of these refugees would have been eligible for asylum in the Untied States if they had had money for a lawyer or understood the application deadlines. Some fleeing families did not believe that they needed to apply, thinking that if they were working and paying taxes, no one would bother them. But that was before the September 11 turning point. The Canadian government will issue the refugees vouchers for an apartment and a lawyer to help with their asylum case.
Canada had once processed asylum applicants in a day and the United States had assured its government that they would not detain immigrants seeking asylum in Canada. But since the recent backlog of asylum-seekers has grown, the United States has not stuck to the agreement and is now detaining those they find. A Canadian official says that their system is working and is in keeping with their two goals: The safety of Canada and to maintain their humanitarian tradition. Pakistanis are one of Canada’s largest immigrant groups.
One refugee fleeing to Canada said, “Just because I don’t have status does not make me a criminal.” Many who believe that they were just being apart of the American dream hold this position.
