They come in the dead of night, in the bitter cold - refugees seeking haven in Canada. Hundreds have crossed the border from the United States in the last couple of months alone. Every year, Canada receives several thousand people claiming asylum. But once they are here, what really happens to asylum seekers?

The Fifth Estate’s new co-host Habiba Nosheen looks at the hopes, the fears and the long legal battles to get to stay in Canada. Our team spent a week following the lawyers at the Toronto’s Refugee Law Office.

An Eritrean man who was ordered deported and says he fears death back home fights for a last-minute reprieve. A Turkish man caught in backlog has waited almost 5 years without a hearing.

And a woman from El Salvador who the lawyers think can be a test case to challenge the federal government’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. Currently, most refugees coming from the United States are barred from making an asylum claim in Canada under the agreement which considers the United States safe for refugees.



What happens after the border crossings?