Canada 'urgently' discussing asylum seeker deportation issue with U.S.

Deputy Prime Minister ChrystiaFreeland says Canada is seeking assurances from the United States that it won't deport asylum-seekers turned back by Canada at its borders through temporary pandemic containment measures.

As part of the temporary agreement to haltthe spread of the novelcoronavirus across the shared border, Canada agreed last week to return asylum-seekers attempting to enter the country outside of official border points a stark departure from Canada's former policy of allowingthemto stay and file refugee claims.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protectionspokesperson saidit plans to send those returned migrantsback to their countries of origin.

"CBP is taking steps to prevent the further introduction of COVID-19 by the individuals it encounters,"said spokesperson Michael Niezgodain an email.

"In the event an alien cannot be returned to Mexico or Canada, CBP will work with interagency partners to secure return to the alien's country of origin and hold the alien for the shortest time possible."

Niezgoda said border officials are following advice from theDepartment ofHealth and Human Services.

Watch: Chrystia Freeland addresses plight of asylum seekers:

Canada 'urgently' discussing asylum seeker deportation issue with U.S.: Freeland

4 years ago

Duration 1:52

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada is seeking assurances from the United States that it won't deport asylum-seekers turned back by Canada at its borders through temporary pandemic containment measures.

"That is an issue which we are currently discussingurgently with our American partners,"Freeland said during a news conference on Parliament Hill today.

"It is very important to Canada to abide by our international commitments ... including when it comes to refugees."

"We are aware of the problems of refoulement," Freeland said, referring tothe forcible return of refugees to countries where they might face violence or persecution.

"And it wasand continuesto be important for Canada to have assurances that that would not happen to people returning to the United States.

Justin Mohammed, human rights law and policy campaigneratAmnesty International Canada, said the Canadian government needs to rethink the policy.

"At this time, the situation facing refugee protection claimants seeking to enter Canada from the U.S. is extremely unclear. If the U.S. is planning to deport such claimants without considering their refugee claims, Canada could be complicit in refoulement," he said

"By denying people the right to make a claim in Canada, the government has put us in breach of our international legal obligation."

When asked if Canada would rethink the temporary measue in light of the United States's stance, Freeland said she would not negotiate in public.

"But let me be clear about Canada's position, which is it is important for us to abide by our international commitments when it comes to the treatment of refugees," she said.

The issue of cross-border migrants isn't the only one the federal government wants to resolve with Washington right now.

Trudeau says talks continue with U.S. about border troops

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today his government is still in talks with theUnited States about a proposal to station American troops near the shared border.

Canadian officials voiced their opposition on Thursday after sources began leaking information about the proposal.Later that day, a Wall Street Journal report, citing a source, said Trump was going to drop the proposal.

WATCH:Trudeau says talks continue with U.S. about border troops

Trudeau says talks continue with U.S. about border troops

4 years ago

Duration 0:42

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says talks continue with the United States about a proposal to station American troops near the shared border.

When asked about the newspaper article during his daily news briefingoutside his home Friday morning,Trudeau would only say that talks continue.

"When we have more information, we'll share it," he said. "We continue to to engage closely in back-and-forths with the American administration on many, many issues around the border."

President Donald Trump was asked about thepossibility of sending reinforcementsto the northern border during a press conference Thursday evening.

"We have very strong deployments on the southern border, with Mexico.We had some troops up in Canada. But I'll find out about that," he said, before suddenly launching into a tangenton steel tariffs.

When contacted on Friday, an official with the the Department of Homeland Security repeated a statement given the day before.

"We will continue to consider additional actions to ensure federal law enforcement personnel at our borders have the resources and operational support needed to address the profound public health threat of uncontrolled cross-border movement during a pandemic," they said.

The two countries already have a mutual ban in place on non-essential travel across the border, which includes trips for recreationalpurposes.