- Montreal advocates are urging Canada to open asylum routes for Haitians losing their U.S. legal protection.
- The U.S. Supreme Court terminated protection for Haitians on June twenty-fifth, twenty twenty-six, impacting three hundred thousand people.
- The Safe Third Country Agreement prevents most Haitian migrants from seeking refuge in Canada from the U.S.
Montreal advocates urged Canada on Wednesday to open an asylum route for Haitians losing U.S. protection, as immigration authorities prepared for the end of a program that shielded more than 300,000 people from deportation and allowed them to work legally.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration to terminate Haiti’s protection on June 25, 2026. The protection expired July 27, putting affected Haitians at risk of detention and removal as U.S. enforcement activity intensifies.
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Haitians already led all nationalities among asylum claimants processed at Canadian land border ports of entry in 2026 through July 26, according to Canada Border Services Agency statistics. Canada still maintains a humanitarian moratorium on removals to Haiti.
But the border remains largely closed to people arriving from the United States. The Safe Third Country Agreement generally requires Canada to return asylum seekers to the U.S., with an exception for some people who have close family members in Canada.
Frantz André of the Action Committee for People Without Status urged Ottawa to withdraw from the agreement. Other Quebec-based advocates called for changes that would allow more Haitians to seek protection in Canada rather than face removal from the United States.
Fedora Mathieu, an immigration and refugee lawyer, called the U.S. decision to end protection “inhumane.” She pointed to gang violence in Haiti and said, “They have to flee because otherwise. they’re gonna get killed.”
Ottawa keeps the border agreement in place
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said July 29 that Canada and the United States continue to apply the agreement at their shared border. The department said the factors behind the U.S. designation as a safe third country undergo continual assessment.
That position leaves many Haitians unable to use Canada as a fallback. Toronto immigration lawyer Joel Sandaluk said he has received a high volume of calls from affected people, but often has to tell them that “Canada is really not an option for them at all.”
The agreement’s reach expanded in 2023, when Canada and the U.S. applied it across the entire land border rather than only at official ports of entry. People who cross irregularly are generally returned to the United States unless they qualify for an exception.
The change closed the route that many asylum seekers used during the 2017 surge at Roxham Road. A close family connection in Canada remains one of the principal exceptions, although the agreement does not admit every person with a Canadian relative.
TPS ended after the Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Mullin v. Doe on June 25 that the government has broad authority to end a country’s designation. The decision reversed lower-court stays that had protected Haitians earlier in 2026.
The court also held that the statute bars judicial review of the Department of Homeland Security secretary’s decision to terminate a country’s designation. Kristi Noem, the former DHS secretary, wrote in the original termination notice, 90 Fed. Reg. 54733, that Haiti “no longer met the conditions” for protection and that continuing the designation was “contrary to the national interest of the United States.”
The program covered approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, according to the additional research. More than 300,000 Haitians lost or faced losing protection, including work authorization and relief from deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security defended the termination in a July 27 social media post:
"Temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY. For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here."
The department’s wording sharpened fears in Haitian communities. Thierry Jean-Baptiste of the Bureau de la communauté haïtienne de Montréal said July 29 that people in the United States are “real stressed. They don’t go out. They stay in their apartment. They are in fear of ICE.”
Work permits expired before the protection ended
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said July 10 that work permits for Haitians under the program would expire July 24, after a last-minute extension for several countries. The brief extensions had created confusion while court orders shaped the program’s final weeks.
The legal protection itself ended July 27. Losing it removed both authorization to work and protection from deportation for affected Haitians who lacked another immigration status.
The administration also promoted voluntary departure incentives for some migrants. Those offers included a free plane ticket and a cash incentive.
A U.S. Senate bill that would have extended protection until 2029 was blocked in late July by Senator Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri. The move ended hopes for a legislative reprieve before the expiration date.
Deportation fears are spreading through Haitian communities
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned aggressive enforcement actions targeting Haitian communities, particularly in Springfield, Ohio, and South Florida, according to developments reported July 28. The prospect of enforcement has drawn concern from officials who oppose immediate removals.
Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio called removing the affected residents a “mistake.” He said, “Changing the immigration status of these individuals is not in the best interest of the United States nor Ohio.”
Asylum approval rates in the United States have reportedly fallen below 5% under the current administration’s policies. That rate, combined with the loss of work permission, has increased pressure on Haitians weighing whether to remain, leave voluntarily or seek another legal route.
Human Rights Watch has warned that Haitians losing protection face the risk of return to violence. Advocates in Montreal describe the same danger in their calls for Canada to accept claims that the border rules now block.
Canada’s other options remain narrower
Canada’s humanitarian moratorium on deportations to Haiti prevents the country from removing people there because of the humanitarian crisis. It does not, however, create an automatic right for Haitians in the United States to enter Canada and make a refugee claim.
The agreement remains the main barrier. Some applicants may qualify through close family members in Canada, while others must rely on immigration pathways outside the ordinary asylum process.
IRCC issued new instructions to officers July 22 stating that they do not have authority to grant humanitarian and compassionate exemptions for applicants under temporary public policies. The instruction tightened one route for people seeking to remain outside standard refugee streams.
That leaves advocates pressing for a policy decision rather than a court or administrative workaround. André’s group wants Ottawa to withdraw from the agreement, while the federal government says it continues to assess the factors supporting the U.S. designation.
The immediate pressure will continue after July 27. Haitians who once held work authorization and deportation relief now face U.S. enforcement, while Canada’s border rules still direct most claims back to the country they are trying to leave.
