Fearing Deportation From U.S., Migrants Walk To Canada

NPR reports:

The U.S. has ended a temporary residency program for almost 60,000 Haitians who had been allowed to legally enter the United States after an earthquake in 2010. The program, called temporary protected status, allows people from nations hit by conflict or natural disaster to remain legally but temporarily in the U.S. for up to 18 months. TPS has often been extended, allowing some people to remain in the U.S. legally for several years.

Now that the program is ending, there is a flow of people crossing the border into Canada by foot. They are taking advantage of a footnote in a Canada-U.S. treaty that says those who cross by foot won't be turned back from Canada until their case is heard.

More than 9,000 people seeking refugee status in Canada entered the province of Québec from August through October. By comparison, just over 2,400 crossed by foot along the entire U.S. border with Canada last year.

Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.