Honduran Family Returned to US Under Safe Third Country Agreement After Canadian Border Attempt

A Canadian border agent at the Fort Erie crossing told Carlos he could enter with their six-year-old son Alejandro but would not admit Antonia, forcing the Honduran family to decide within 20 minutes whether to separate or return to the United States.

The family chose to stay together. They were sent back across the border, detained, and later deported to Honduras, where they now live in hiding because of fears of gang retribution.

Carlos, Antonia and Alejandro had fled Honduras in 2021 after receiving threats from gangs. They traveled through Guatemala and Mexico and reached the United States just as the Trump administration began tightening asylum rules.

U.S. Carried a high risk of detention and removal. Because Carlos has relatives in Canada, the family continued north to the Fort Erie port of entry. , or the entire family could go back together. ” Antonia said she began crying and that Alejandro started crying too.

The three Hondurans, together with the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International Canada, have filed a court challenge arguing that Canadian officials are not applying required safeguards before returning claimants to the United States under the Safe Third Country Agreement.

Until 2004, asylum claims could be made at any legal Canadian port of entry. The Safe Third Country Agreement, implemented after 2004, requires most claimants to pursue protection in the first safe country they reach, initially applying only at land ports.

In 2023 Canada’s Supreme Court upheld the agreement, citing legislative “safety valves” such as humanitarian and compassionate exemptions. ” Canada’s border agency said officers may delay removal only in exceptional cases where a claimant shows clear evidence of facing death, inhumane treatment, or deportation without due process.