U.S. President Donald Trump is back in power, and as dozens of executive orders emerge in the opening days of his second term, some are looking north for a new place to call home.
Migrants south of the border are terrified of deportation and family separation in the wake of Trump’s new policies, a U.S. immigration lawyer says.
“I think one of the biggest impacts that we’re seeing is just an immense increase in fear and anxiety in the immigrant population both inside the United States and those that are seeking to enter,” attorney Kelley Ortega told CTV News Channel on Friday.
Since Trump made his return to the Oval Office on Monday, he has moved quickly to fulfil his promises of cracking down on immigration. Within days of his inauguration, the president declared a national emergency at the southern border, drastically tightened eligibility requirements for entry, shut down an app providing legal entry to nearly one million migrants and began preparations for mass deportations.
Asylum seekers now find the U.S. southern border largely closed. As well, refugee admissions were suspended and federal officials are allowed to arrest people in or near schools and churches.
In addition, there has been a reported increase in the number of people wanting to leave the U.S. for Canada because of Trump’s new gender identity policy, including an executive order “defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.” Still, Canada’s Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the U.S. is “a safe country” for LGBTQ2S+ people.
As the impacts of a new Trump administration begin to mount, are you or someone you know considering moving to Canada from the United States? Have you or someone you know considered seeking asylum in Canada?
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With files from CTV News' Spencer Van Dyk, CNN and The Associated Press