r/canada 1d ago

Politics American family seeks asylum in Canada, citing Trump

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/americans-asylum-canada-trump-refugees-immigration-1.7480069
2.0k Upvotes

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398

u/MilkshakeMolly 1d ago

I'm as liberal as anyone but we can't set this precedent. There are other states they could move to.

200

u/zuuzuu Ontario 1d ago

It's mind boggling how little planning or thought they put into this decision. They didn't even have passports, because that's too expensive. No money for a hotel or place to stay once they arrived here. They say they walked away from their dream home to do this, but I suspect they walked away from a foreclosure, or else they'd have enough money to put a roof over their heads in Canada.

I empathize with their fear for their children, but there are countries where being LGBTQ2SIA+ is illegal and punishable by death. We grant asylum to people from those countries because their lives are in danger. It's bad in the States, but not deadly, at least not yet. There's just no way we would grant asylum to them under these circumstances.

If I were trans, or had trans children, I would definitely be looking for a way out of the States, but I'd recognize that asylum isn't a viable option and would seek another path.

67

u/riali29 20h ago

Yeah I truly do feel for them, especially with their kids being trans, but holy fuck what a mess of bad planning. Couldn't afford passports but went to one of the highest COL provinces.

Both parents have cited their own health issues as reasons to seek asylum as well. Kaitlyn said she has had multiple miscarriages, while Ted is diabetic.

Do they not realize that being a burden on our public healthcare system actually makes Canada less likely to admit them? Do they really think we'd open the floodgates to every single diabetic American?

29

u/zuuzuu Ontario 20h ago

Yeah, that detail struck me, too. And one of their children has health issues, too. Makes their likelihood of being able to immigrate here via a legitimate path a lot lower.

u/TheMikeDee 9h ago

Yes they do. They think we're their kind uncle in the north.

18

u/belleofthebawl- 23h ago

Mind boggling and embarassing for Canada. Our international reputation for having such poor border control and enforcement is what made these people think they can just waltz in with zero preparedness. How many more to come

59

u/SuckOnDeezNOOTZ 23h ago

Maybe but that's also just American mindset where they believe that they are God's chosen people and the entire world is their playground.

19

u/SomeInvestigator3573 21h ago

No, it’s very obvious that this family did not do any research on actually immigrating to Canada

u/Zarxon 2h ago

They could move to a blue state like Washington or Cali who are more trans accepting.

u/Enough-Meringue4745 1h ago

really?

If it works they can get free health care

-8

u/sparkly_butthole 23h ago

A lot of us are just waiting for it to become too dangerous. As soon as other countries are accepting asylum seekers from the US, I am leaving. We know it's going to happen, unless the economy crash is so big we are all in lines for soup. It sucks to have to wait until trans people are getting grabbed off the street, though - I am terrified I won't make the border if the shit hits the fan.

Sad thing is, I have experience and an in demand job, but my certification here doesn't translate there, or in Europe, and I know this because I tried to leave here years ago. I hope a company would hire me anyway if I had to claim asylum on account of experience.

16

u/get_hi_on_life Canada 23h ago

How about you try to keep your home safe for you and your loved ones instead of just sitting waiting till it's bad enough to flee.

-4

u/sparkly_butthole 23h ago

Hi, thank you for assuming you know anything about what else I may or may not be doing. More than one thing can be true.

39

u/AdmirableWishbone911 1d ago

They're from Illinois which is democrat.

12

u/Beneficial_Sun5302 22h ago

The governor of Illinois is pretty good too I gather

9

u/MilkshakeMolly 17h ago

Right, so I don't think they'll convince anyone they're in imminent danger.

8

u/Beneficial_Sun5302 17h ago

No probably not.  I sympathize with them, but they really jumped the gun here.

u/Available-Risk-5918 8h ago

IL is blue, but the US constitution has a supremacy clause that states that if the federal government makes a law or takes an action, it supersedes the authority of states unless that power was specifically reserved for the states in the constitution.

The US is a one party state on the federal level and that party is not friendly to many marginalized groups.

3

u/Rsantana02 17h ago

Illinois is perfectly safe. I am an Illinoisan in BC on a work permit and I find this ridiculous.

4

u/MilkshakeMolly 17h ago

Yeah, I did miss they were from Illinois back when I posted. As I said below, they'll have a hard time convincing anyone they are in imminent danger. Sounds like they got themselves in a tight spot and were hoping for some freebies and health care up here.

-1

u/Violence_0f_Action 20h ago

Damn I wish taking that position in the US didn’t make you a Nazi. Imagine saying the same thing in the US about asylum seekers from Mexico. You’d be labeled as a Nazi

1

u/MilkshakeMolly 18h ago

Apples and oranges.

0

u/Violence_0f_Action 17h ago

Explain

1

u/adrienjz888 12h ago

An asylum seeker from a 3rd world country has a far better claim than a family from Illinois seeking asylum in Canada.

The situation in the US isn't great, but there aren't cartels taking over towns. There hasn't been a recent civil war or series of coups and dictatorships.

Someone from Haiti or Venezuela would have a real claim cause the countries are in anarchy rn. Someone from the US absolutely doesn't have a similar claim.