June 20, 2018•Update: June 20, 2018
TRENTON, Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added his criticism Wednesday to the global outcry condemning the U.S. policy of separating undocumented children from their parents.
On his way to Parliament in the capital city of Ottawa, Trudeau did an impromptu session with reporters and left no doubt where he stood on the issue of tearing apart families and putting children in steel cages.
“What’s going on in the United States is wrong,” Trudeau said. “I can’t imagine what the families living through this are enduring. Obviously, this is not the way we do things in Canada.”
Outrage at the tactics of the Donald Trump administration have also heightened calls for a halt to the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States.
Under the agreement, asylum seekers must apply as refugees in the first of the two countries they arrive in.
The supposition is that the handling of immigration in Canada and the U.S. is fair, something critics say is no longer the case because of the separation of parents and children.
The Trudeau government has so far remained silent on the suspension of the agreement.
Trump said Wednesday he would take "preemptive" action to halt the policy that have drawn widespread and bipartisan criticism.
He said the move "ultimately will be matched by legislation" after House Speaker Paul Ryan announced the House would vote Thursday on legislation to end the practice.
