Ping-Pong Asylum

But renegotiating the STCA to give officials the power to return to the U. S. all asylum seekers crossing the border at any point, is not the solution. [...] It begins with describing the current backdrop to renegotiation of the agreement, including the rise and fall of border crossings, as well as how the STCA works in practice. [...] THE SAFE THIRD COUNTRY AGREEMENT IN PRACTICE The purpose of the STCA, which was signed in the wake of 9/11, is to share responsibility for asylum flows between Canada and the United Sates (Government of Canada 2016). [...] One line of reasoning by then-Immigration critic Diane Ablonczy was that the agreement represented “baby steps.” As most asylum flows between the U. S. and Canada went north, a more comprehensive agreement would have meant the return of more asylum seekers to the U. S., than the U. S. to Canada. [...] Under the premise of reducing the number of asylum seekers evading ports of entry to claim asylum, Canada is seeking to renegotiate the STCA to extend across the entire border (Zilio and Morrow 2019).