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Impacts of Directing Refugee Claimants Back to the United States

July 11, 2005

Source: Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR)

In January 2003, the Government of Canada issued instructions regarding the processing of refugee claimants who enter Canada through the United States. According to the instructions, refugee claimants who cannot be immediately processed on arrival at the border, may be given an appointment to return to Canada a few days later. In the interim, they were to be directed back to the US to wait for the appointment, even if the claimants will be detained by the US and therefore unable to return to Canada for their appointment.

The CCR noted that many refugee claimants at the border are of nationalities targeted by recent discriminatory registration programs in the US. Instead of assisting the victims of these McCarthy-like initiatives, Canada is complicit in the measures by returning them to detention in the US.

The following are stories and quotes from various ports of entry across Canada.

Lacolle:

• Citizenship and Immigration Canada has been directing back all claimants arriving at the border (except for unaccompanied minors). This runs counter to the Instructions for Front-end processing of refugee protection claims, issued January 27, which says that direct backs are to be special measures "not to be used indiscriminately but rather selectively and responsibly as tools to manage unusual flows and/or unavailability of critical resources." CIC Lacolle is instead using direct backs as the standard method of operating. All claimants are directed back whether few arrived or many. Even when some claimants fail to re-appear for their appointments, those slots are not used to process newly arrived refugee claimants.
• In some cases, INS seizes all the claimants' papers, including their letter of appointment with CIC, so the claimants may not even know when their appointment is.
• Those who have spoken with directed back claimants report that there is a very high degree of anxiety among them. They have many questions about what is happening to them and rumours are rife.
• Those detained are taken to Oneida County Jail in Oriskany, N.Y. This 700 bed jail, used primarily for criminals, is about 4 hours from the border, near Utica. There are no lawyers in the area serving immigration detainees.
• On arrival at the jail, detainees are put into a 72 hour lock-down, during which they cannot make any phone calls. Even after the 72 hour period, communication by telephone is difficult. It is particularly problematic for families that are split, with the husband detained and the wife and children being offered temporary shelter in Burlington. Some families have gone for days not knowing where their male relatives are or how to contact them.
• The majority of those detained have been Pakistani men. They are not accused of anything more serious than immigration violations.
• A number of people scheduled for appointments after being directed back have not shown up for their appointments. Most or all of these people are likely to have been detained or to have had a family member who was in detention.
• For those detainees with bonds, most appear to be set at $1500 or $5000. Those who post bonds are very unlikely ever to see the money: by returning to Canada for their refugee claim, they effectively abandon their proceedings in the US and the bond money is confiscated.
• After paying a bond, a detainee still cannot be released until INS comes to the jail, which may not be until the next time INS is bringing new detainees to the jail. When they are released, they are not brought back to the border, but simply left to fend for themselves, even if they have no money.
• Of those who are not detained, some are able to find their own accommodation, often by travelling long distances to stay with family or friends. A number of families, however, have no resources or place to go and are being offered emergency shelter in Burlington. The demands of caring for families is putting a strain on the community's resources, particularly as the wait is a matter of weeks.
• Pakistanis without permanent status in the US were required to register under the discriminatory registration program by February 21, 2003. Non-registered Pakistanis were to be mandatorily detained after this date, with no possibility of bond.
• Appointment dates are moving quickly further and further into the future and a significant backlog is quickly being accumulated.

Fort Erie:

• Direct backs are taking place and some have been detained.
• Those directed back from Fort Erie go through a similar experience to the one described above for Lacolle.
• There is a shelter for refugee claimants in Buffalo (VIVE) but it is completely full. Those directed back have nowhere to stay and must either go to a public shelter, travel long distances to friends and family, or go to a local hotel.
• An unknown number of persons directed back are detained. Most of these appear to be sent to Batavia Federal Detention Facility.
• Claimants waiting for their appointment at the Canadian border may be detained by the INS. A man was arrested in a hotel in Buffalo while waiting for his appointment with CIC (he was issued a $15,000 bond). Six men who had registered at VIVE and been referred to a hotel/motel were arrested and detained from their hotel rooms. They were issued $1,500 bonds each.
• The numbers of claimants being processed each day is much smaller than the numbers of claimants coming forward to the border. As a result a quickly growing backlog is being created.

Windsor:

• An unknown number of persons have been directed back and some have been detained. Some at least of those detained are held in Monroe County Jail.
• Windsor has reportedly started handing claimants their PIF before directing them back. Because of the way the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act works, this means that their case will begin to be processed by the Immigration and Refugee Board, while they are still in the US. It is possible that their case could be declared abandoned because they have not complied with requirements!

Direct Back Experiences

Lacolle:

• One man described how his family was directed back. They arrived at the Canadian border at 8 p.m. They spent two hours having their photos and fingerprints taken and showing their documents. They were then told to follow Canadian officials who took them to a vehicle. The doors of the vehicle were locked and the officials then told the family that they were being taken back to the US. The man cried that they didn't want to return to the US. The family then spent about 20 hours being processed by INS.
• Another man described his experience of being directed back in this way: "This was an unbelievably horrible experience for myself and my family."
• A pregnant woman who is close to her due date was directed back.
• A family with two severely disabled children was directed back.
• An African woman had only been in the US a day before she reached the Canadian border to make a claim and was directed back. She was in a state of extreme distress and was visibly suffering from the trauma of events in her home country (including bruises and broken teeth as a result of assault by the military). She reports having been tortured and that her husband and children were killed. She has no resources or contacts in the US who could assist her, and was frantic about what she was to do in the US. She spent the first night after being directed back in the bus station in Plattsburgh.
• A US citizen reported being shocked by the humiliating way in which INS officers treated refugee claimants. After 18 hours of processing, one family was shown out the door at 2 a.m. in the bitter cold and told to fend for themselves.
• One detainee had his appointment to return to Canada on Monday 3 February. He did not appear: he is detained without possibility of bond and faces an outstanding order of removal from the US. Not only has he been denied the opportunity to have his refugee claim heard in Canada, but if he were able to return to Canada subsequently, he would likely be told that he could not make a claim because he had abandoned his earlier claim!
• A family did not appear for its appointment on Tuesday 4 February. It appears the male member of the family was in detention. Presumably his family members, facing the dilemma of abandoning him or abandoning their claim in Canada, decided not to come back to the border.

Fort Erie:

• In one case, a young man, arrived at the Canadian border on 1 February in the evening. After being processed by CIC (fingerprints, photo and basic information taken), he was given an appointment for 11 days later. He was then placed in the taxi he arrived in. He was told nothing about where he was being sent. He expressed his fear to CIC about returning to the United States. They informed him to come back to the border with his brother, a Canadian citizen. He arrived at the Peace Bridge INS office at 2 a.m. He reports that he was placed in a room with only a chair, where he was kept until 4 p.m. the next day. He was given no opportunity to sleep and was only given food after he began to vomit from stomach pains. When INS officers began interviewing him, there was no translator and he could not understand the questions. He said that he would like both a lawyer and a translator. He was told by INS that he didn't need a translator and that he should be able to speak English.
• When he asked again for a translator they accused him of pretending not to speak English. Finally another detainee was brought in to assist, but unfortunately, this individual also did not speak English very well. Eventually the young man was issued a sworn statement and was told to sign it without understanding what the statement said. He was then transfered to Batavia Federal Detention Facility until his brother posted a $1,500 bond.
• Some of the bonds set are high. A woman is being detained in Oneida County Jail with a $20,000 bond.