June 20, 2025
The Canadian Sanctuary Network, Bridges Not Borders, and the Canadian Council for Refugees have issued an open letter calling on civil society partners to join us in demanding an end to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between Canada and the United States.
Since 2004, Canada has designated the United States as a safe country for refugees, under the STCA between the two countries. This agreement has effectively closed the door on most refugee claimants presenting themselves at the US-Canada border. They are sent back to the US, where many are put into immigration detention.
Canada’s continued participation in the STCA means that Canada is effectively endorsing U.S. policies to end refugee protection and deport people to places where they are at risk of persecution, torture, and death.
The full text of the letter, including the list of signatories, is below. We encourage you to sign on to the letter as an organization or as an individual:
Click here to sign the open letter
Open Letter on the STCA
The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) is a treaty that allows Canada to turn away refugee claimants (also called asylum seekers) at the land border, sending them back to the United States. This agreement is based on the premise that the U.S. is a safe place for refugees, which has proven to be false. Canada must stand up for refugee rights and withdraw from the STCA.
Conditions for refugees in the U.S. have deteriorated drastically since January 2025. Refugee protection has effectively ceased to exist. After the current administration cancelled the CBP One App, there is no longer a mechanism to make a refugee claim for most people. New procedures expand detention and accelerate deportation, with documented cases of people being deported without any justification at all. Even those who have a legal right to stay in the U.S. are under threat.
These measures are an affront to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, which binds signatories to offer protection to people who face persecution. The Convention was written and signed in the aftermath of the Holocaust, in recognition of the collective failure to protect groups who were persecuted by Nazi Germany. Both the United States and Canada signed on to the Convention and Protocol and passed domestic laws to safeguard refugee rights.
But domestic law and the authority of the courts have been repeatedly undermined by the Trump administration. For instance, individuals were scooped up, deported to El Salvador, and held in maximum security prisons, where they experience ongoing human rights violations. These deportations happened in defiance of a U.S. court order. Although this detention is paid for by the U.S. government, U.S. officials are arguing that these individuals are under jurisdiction of a foreign country and that American court rulings do not apply. With the rule of law under threat, the U.S. can no longer be considered a reliable partner, including in matters to do with refugees.
Canada’s continued participation in the STCA, as well as the measures proposed in Bill C-2 that would make it even more difficult for refugee claimants to get due process at a refugee hearing in Canada, mean that Canada is effectively endorsing U.S. policies to end refugee protection and deport people to places where they are at risk of persecution, torture, and death.
Moral and legal opposition to Canada’s participation in the STCA is not new. A wide range of voices—faith groups, human rights defenders, and senior leaders across political parties—have called for Canada to cease participating in the STCA. The Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada both ruled that refugees sent back to the US might be at risk of rights breaches that violate Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, although the Supreme Court has so far declined to strike down the STCA.
But as refugees become pawns in a dangerous political game, there has never been a more critical time to be a leader in safeguarding the rights of refugees.
We propose a system that is more orderly and humane. Absurdly, the STCA weakens border security by encouraging the creation of smuggling networks and incentivizing informal border crossing. Efforts to surveil the 9,000 km border intrude upon the privacy and daily lives of Canadians, two thirds of whom live within 100 km of the US border. Despite being resource intensive, they are ultimately ineffective.
Returning to the system in place before the STCA was enacted, people who fear persecution can make a refugee claim at an official land port of entry. The Canadian government will know who enters Canada and can evaluate the merits of their refugee claims.
Resources can be diverted from wasteful efforts such as helicopter patrols to enact the Asylum With Dignity plan, which will ensure appropriate support, as well as timely decisions on refugee claims. Refugees would have the opportunity to rebuild their lives and contribute to the economic and social fabric of Canada.
It is time to move beyond political theatre and make a border policy that responds to the realities of the day and aligns with Canadian values of fairness and respect for human rights. It is time to withdraw from the STCA.
We, the undersigned individuals and organizations based in Canada, call on the Canadian government to withdraw Bill C-2 and withdraw from the STCA.
Signatories: list of Canada-based organizations
- The Canadian Sanctuary Network
- Bridges Not Borders
- Canadian Council for Refugees
- Angela Rose & Oak House
- Welcome Collective
- Matthew House Refugee Welcome Centre of Windsor
- East Kootenay Friends of Refugees
- Comité de solidarité internationale de l'ALGI
- Rainbow Railroad
- Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW)
- Jesuit Refugee Service Canada
- Canadian Center For Victims Of Torture
- Fédération des femmes du Québec
- Social Impact Consulting
- CRÉDIL
- Halifax Refugee Clinic
- Caring for Social Justice Collective
- Canada-US Border Rights Clinic
- AGIR Montreal
- Cooper Institute
- Multi-Agency Partnership of BC
- Micah House Hamilton
- Mubaadarat
- Immigrant and Refugee Support Center
- Miramichi Catholic Refugee Committee
- Christie Refugee Welcome Centre
- Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Service
- Newcomer Legal Clinic
- Sean Halliday Immigration and Citizenship Consulting Inc.
- The United Church of Canada
- Capital Rainbow Refuge
- The Neighbourhood Group Community Services
- Halifax Quakers for Asylum Justice
Signatories: list of Canada-based individuals
- Patricia Wood
- Frances Ravensbergen
- Rani Cruz
- Julie Young
- Louis-Philippe Jannard
- Mauricio Trujillo
- Brydon Gombay
- Pam Hillis
- Janna Frith
- Alida Oegema-Thomas
- Mylène Bigaouette
- Corina Barbul
- Adan Hassan Sallow
- Ethan Shi
- Sylvain Thibault
- Jenna Cura
- Marck Cura
- Amanda Dale
- Joanne Cottrill
- Rebecca Butler
- Erika Frey
- Erin Sloan
- Deborah Sloan
- Josiane Ménard
- Cassidy M. Ascione
- Alison Witt
- Reyaz Aly
- Didier Kabongo
- Glenn Hodgins
- Alice Craft
- Nadia Umadat
- Gabriel Allahdua
- Garine Papazian-Zohrabian
- Kathryn Tomko Dennler
- Petra Molnar
- Matthew McDonald
- Michelle Adormaa Owusu
- François Crépeau
- Anjali Mishra
- Arla Giddings
- Maheen Hyder
- Dr. Michel O'Neill
- Raoul Boulakia
- Kristin Marshall
- Sara Bokma
- Alex Neve, Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa
- Annick Legault
- Claire Ellis
- Michael McMorrow
- Sarah Turnbull
- Deepa Nagari
- Darlene Pomroy
- Barb Hogan
- Cephaelis Ponce de Sosa
- Juan Sosa
- Caleb Lee
We, the undersigned individuals and organizations based in the US, validate the concerns documented in the letter that make the US unsafe for asylum seekers and other refugees.
Signatories: list of US-based organizations
- Capital District Border Watch
- Saratoga Immigration Coalition
- Refugees International
- Plattsburgh Cares
- Hopeful Links
- Lincoln Farm Studio
- The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights
- Dubrule & Nowel
- Boston University International Human Rights Clinic
- Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
- Pedro Arrupe Jesuit Institute
- Provincial Council Clerics of St. Viator
- The Law Office of Derrick J. Hensley, PLLC
- THRIVE Center for Survivors of Torture
- The Advocates for Human Rights
- Neighbors for Progressive Action
- Southern Maine for Racial Justice
Signatories: list of US-based individuals
- Alex Vernon
- Élaine Simon
- Victor Anderson
- Abena Hutchful
- Zachary Albun
- Nathalie Karpati
- Linette Tobin
- Judith Wade
- Helen Parsonage
- Bertha Rodriguez
- Aryn Conrad
- Mary Hawkins
- Kristen Coffey
- Nancy Markowitz
- Tom Mikulka, Ph.D.
- Giselle Linn
- Barbara A. Fiore
- Elizabeth J. Ruskin
- Barbara Sawyer
- Jane Makela
- Cheryl Dearman Mills
- Lawrence R. Kaplan, MD
- Mary Provo
- Eileen Conlon
- Matthew D. Gerken
- Jennifer DeCristoforo
- Betty Robinson
- Jane Alper
- Marilyn Davis
- Christine Tait Koch
- Joseph Alper
- Maura J. Kelly
- Kathreen Harrison
- Valerie S. Razsa
- Paul Manoff
- Ronald Kreisman
- Shara Svendsen
- Paula Hannah-Mauri
- Susan Davis Doughty
- Sara Ostrov
- Ellen Farnsworth
- Martha Sweezy
- Margaret Duddy
- Carol M. Davis
- Ellie Hughes
- John Mahon
- Meredith H. Jordan
- Dale McCormick
- Alma David
- Alison Kenway
- Kristel Hayes
- Tamber Hilton
- Shaina Simenas
- Nicole Hartnett
- Mollison Espinosa-Thompson
- Audrey Hudgins
- Chanelle Diaz, MD MPH
- Joanne Ahola, M.D., D.L.F.A.P.A.
- Oren Root
- Lindsay M. Harris
- Nora Rowley
- Carol Anne Donohoe, Esq.
- Kaity Nicastri
- Jonathan Weinberg
- Richard Kovar
- Sara Needleman
- Becky Brusca
- Deborah Ottenheimer, MD
- Diana Moller
- Linda Hamilton
- Janine Young, MD, FAAP
- Karla Fredricks
- Josehine N Pendleton
- Carol King
- Mary C. Semrow
- Ida Salusky
- Richard Leach
- Aimee Souza
- Karen Saylor
- Ashley Klick
- Virgil Wiebe
- Mani Farhadi
- Hon. Dana Leigh Marks (ret.)
- Michele Jenness
- A Takeshian Md
- Denyse Thornley-Brown
- Amanda Heffernan, PhD CNM
- Laura L Ramirez
- Mark Morelli
- Hossein Daghoghi
- Anna Welch
- Renais Winter
- Alberto E. Gonzalez
- Denise Spear
- Janan Apaydin
- Janelle Towes
- Edward Nolde
- Kristin Brownell, MD. MPH
- Denise L Gilman
- Rev. Gary Wright
- Michael Lauchlan
- Kathleen Steele
- Mara Livezey
- Dree K. Collopy
- Ken and Geraldine Grunow
- Samara Fox
- Maria Laura Sosa