OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing arguments today on the constitutionality of the Safe Third Country Agreement (“STCA”), an agreement signed by the Canadian government that designates the United States as a “safe country” for refugees.
The agreement, which dates back to 2004, permits Canada to return refugees arriving at our official land border crossings to the United States without any hearing of their refugee claim. The Federal Court ruled that the STCA was unconstitutional – a decision that was overturned on appeal for largely technical and procedural reasons. The case is now at
