The current U.S. administration has taken many actions since January 20th that have upended many lives in the U.S. itself but countless others abroad, including Canada.  There is the decimation of the American civil service, the suspension of critical foreign aid, the (on again, off again) punishing tariffs imposed on other countries such as Canada, the threat to deport undocumented people, the prevention of people to seek asylum, and many others. 

As the Country Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service – Canada, I pay most attention to the situation of displaced people who flee their homes, and oftentimes their countries, in the hopes of finding a secure place to raise their children.  With as many as 11 million undocumented people in the U.S. under the threat of deportation by the U.S. administration, we must, as Christians living in Canada, ponder deeply about what our stance should be in such a situation. 

It is clear, more now than ever before, that the U.S. is not a safe place for people who are seeking asylum.  But our Canadian Government still maintains that the U.S. is a safe place for them.  It will therefore continue to refuse entry to anybody (with few exceptions) who tries to flee the U.S. because of a credible fear that they will be deported back to their country of origin and possibly face death, torture, persecution or at the very least, an uncertain future. 

If the Canadian Government did walk away from the Safe-Third Country Agreement, effectively saying that the U.S. is not a safe country for people seeking asylum, how many people of those 11 million undocumented, would make their way to Canada?  Nobody knows for sure.  Maybe that should not be the question in the first place for us as Christians. 

As a Christian, I am called to welcome the stranger.  Does that mean that I welcome 20 people in my home?  Probably not, but I could certainly welcome a few. 

Remember 9/11 and what the people of Gander, Newfoundland did.  They welcomed close to 7,000 people whose planes were diverted from U.S. airspace for a period of 6 days.  During those 6 days, all of those people were sheltered and nourished.  Not a small feat for a small community of 12,000.  I would invite you to read this article that shows the degree of preparedness that the people of Gander had.

I would challenge our federal and provincial governments to, instead of investing millions of dollars in border security, invest in emergency preparedness so as to be better prepared to welcome people fleeing the insecurity of the current U.S. administration.  If we were able to welcome 50,000 Syrians in 2016-2017, if we were able to welcome 250,000 Ukrainians from 2022 until March 2024 (and more have come since), if Gander, a community of 12,000, was able to welcome 7,000 people, surely the whole country of 40 million could welcome at least 400,000 over the course of the next 4 years. 

Some people would argue that welcoming 100,000 people in a year would be a drain on our resources and that we don’t have enough housing as it is.  What is the alternative?  That they are sent back to dire situations. As a Christian, especially in this time of lent, I am called to lend a helping hand to the stranger in need.  I am called to share what I have with those that have very little.  I am called to have compassion as the Good Samaritan. 

As Canadians, I believe that if we put our minds in hearts in this, we could show the world, but most importantly, we could show ourselves what makes us different than the current U.S. administration, and that is, my friends, love of thy neighbour! 

Norbert Piché,

National Director for JRS Canada