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The scenes from the southern U.S. border are heartbreaking: Inconsolable toddlers crying for their mamis and papis; mothers told their children are going to be bathed, only to realize they’ve been taken away indefinitely; parents deported without their sons and daughters.

It seems a long way to the border of Mexico. But the new U.S. policy to separate children from their parents in immigration detention may soon be felt on the border with Canada as well, with greater numbers of asylum seekers fleeing Trump’s America.

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The U.S. has never been less safe, say Canadian refugee advocates who are renewing calls to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement — and do away with our own practice of detaining children.

The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the U.S. and Canada, in force since 2004, stipulates that refugee-claimants must seek asylum in the first safe country they encounter. Although it only applies to official borders, it means people can be turned back if they try to claim refugee status in the next country.