Canada should make exemption for American transgender asylum claims: refugee advocates

— Refugee advocacy groups are asking the federal immigration minister to make an exemption in the Safe Third Country Agreement for transgender refugee claimants in the United States to seek asylum in Canada.

The request comes after President Donald Trump moved within hours of returning to the White House Monday to use an executive order declaring that the U.S. will recognize only two sexes, male and female, based only on biological characteristics.

Gauri Sreenivasan, co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said the orders will harm transgender people who are seeking to make an asylum claim in the United States.

Under Trump’s policies for example, a transgender woman could be placed in a detention facility with male detainees.

“It’s very obvious that trans people seeking asylum in the U.S. have just got enormously less safe,” said Sreenivasan.

The agreement states that a refugee claimant landing in either Canada or the U.S. must make their claim in the country in which they first arrive. It is based on the idea that both countries are equally safe for refugees.

On Tuesday, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller told CTV in an interview that he sees the U.S. as a safe place for the purposes of the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement when asked about its application to transgender people and potentially stateless individuals.

Trump signed additional executive orders immediately that raised additional concerns about Canada’s asylum policies.

One order paused the refugee program and another ends birthright citizenship. That would mean children born on U.S. soil would no longer get U.S. citizenship automatically if their mothers were in the country temporarily or unlawfully.