Under the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), Canada turns away most people seeking safety at our borders and sends them to the United States, where many have been detained by ICE under horrific conditions, separated from their families, and deported back to the very countries they were seeking refuge from.

Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Council for Refugees, and The Canadian Council of Churches have joined together with families who have been impacted by the STCA to fight this, in a historic constitutional challenge. Collectively, they will argue that Canada’s participation in the agreement unfairly discriminates against racialized women, LGBTQI+ people, and children and thus violates equality rights enshrined under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The hearing is taking place this week in the Federal Court in Toronto, where the FCJ Refugee Centre joined a rally this Monday, to make sure the message is heard.

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“This is about what happens after a Canada Border Services Agency officer rules someone ineligible and walks them back across the border,” said at the rally the President of the Board of Directors of the FCJ Refugee Centre, Sharry Aiken, speaking as co-chair of the CCR Legal Affairs Committee. “None of this began somewhere far away. Every one of these stories started at a Canadian port of entry with a decision made by a Canadian official. Starting today those decisions are on trial,” she added.

Julia Sande (Amnesty International), who addressed the legal challenge, highlighted that “we’ve been fighting the Safe Third Country Agreement in court for decades, and we will continue to do so, until people who show up at our doorstep seeking safety – including women, members of the LGBTQ community, and children – are treated fairly. Our lawyers are in court, fighting to tell a judge what is abundantly obvious to everyone here: that the US is not safe for refugees.”

The other speakers at the rally were CCR President, Asma Faizi; U.S. immigration attorney Heather Yountz, who talked about the challenging situation in the United States; and Karlene Williams Clarke, from The 519, who shared her lived experience and offered a hopeful, alternative vision for welcoming refugees to Canada.

“The evidence we present in this case, and the horrors of ICE that Canadians can see unfolding on their news screens, make it clear that the U.S. asylum system is broken and dangerous — particularly for racialized women, children, and LGBTQIA+ refugees,” said CCR President Asma Faizi.: “Since the Canadian government is not acting on what is plain for all to see, we are asking the court to strike down the designation of the U.S. as a safe country for refugees.”