As each day in U.S. detention passes, Markens Appolon can feel the life he had dreamed of slipping away — the 25-year-old fled Haiti to escape the rampant gang violence that upended his university studies in economics, and planned to join family in Montreal. But for the last four and a half months, Appolon has been incarcerated in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. He wonders how he would even begin to rebuild, if he is released.

“Every day that passes, my mental health is just getting worse. You see the world going on and you’re just stuck here, watching,” he said. “I’m here, and even when I get out, the problem is going to be worse.”

Canada’s Role in ICE Detention

Appolon had sought refuge in Canada, believing that it offered a haven to those at risk. The fact that he had Canadian family should have meant he was eligible to claim asylum. Yet it was Canadian officials who handed him over to the ICE agents who detained him.

“This is what is so shocking about this case and others like it,” said Erin Simpson, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer who is representing Appolon. “Canada is participating in this. Canada is handing people over to ICE.”

Simpson and other Canadian immigration lawyers say they have been inundated with cases like Appolon’s since the start of Donald Trump’s second term in office.

Legal Challenges and the Safe Third Country Agreement

Refugees like Appolon attempt to claim asylum in Canada through an exception to the country’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the US. Under the agreement, refugees must seek asylum in the first “safe country” they arrive in.

But legal experts argue that the US should not be considered a safe third country. They argue that the country’s long-term detention of those seeking refuge and threats to deport asylum seekers to countries where they could be harmed or killed indicate that the US is not safe.

Meanwhile, Canada is tightening its own asylum system. New legislation enacted in March has created further ineligibility rules for refugee claimants, prompting critics to accuse Mark Carney’s government of introducing Trump-style immigration policies.

Refugees like Appolon remain jailed in the US “because Canada conducted proceedings at the border in a manner that was rigid and, frankly, unfair”, said Simpson.

“The consequences for him couldn’t be more serious,” she said.

Refugee Experiences and Concerns

Appolon fled Haiti in 2023 when the country was mired in devastating gang warfare, a political power vacuum, economic collapse and famine. He moved to Florida where he lived with an uncle on a special humanitarian visa program granted by the Biden administration that allowed him to work and study.

When Trump returned to power and threatened to end the program, Appolon decided to claim asylum in Canada.

A refugee attempting to enter Canada from the US must prove they have Canadian family members in the country to be allowed in. Otherwise, they are meant to make use of the US system.

Appolon reached the Quebec-Vermont border on 28 December, but was rejected and turned over to ICE. His aunt, a Canadian citizen, was temporarily out of the country for a family emergency, and border agents told him without her physically present in the country, he could not enter.

According to Simpson, Canadian border guards have been more lenient in previous cases and should have given Appolon’s aunt time to return. Canadian legislation does not specify that a relative must be physically in the country at the time a refugee is making a claim, she said.

Despite recent legislation, Canada still enjoys a global reputation as a welcoming country for refugees and immigrants. But the consequences for rejection have become more severe, according to several immigration lawyers.