The Canadian government says citizens and Canadian permanent residents with roots in the seven mainly Muslim countries banned by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday will be allowed to enter the United States–and not be barred as originally feared.
Trump’s executive order bars indefinitely Syrian refugees and suspends for three months travel to the U.S. by people from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Libya.
The announcement led to weekend demonstrations in dozens of U.S. cities and airports and confusion at the Canada-U.S. border as several Canadian residents reported they’d been turned away.
In Ottawa Sunday, Canadian Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said the White House has given Ottawa assurances that Canadian permanent residents with a passport from one of the seven countries could travel to the U.S.
Hussen also said Canada will provide temporary shelter to anyone stranded because of the ban but said he knew of no one stuck at a Canadian airport.
He added that Canada has no plans to increase the number of refugees Ottawa plans to accept this year, a number currently set at 25,000.
Since November, 2015, Canada has accepted nearly 40,000 Syrian refugees. and waway we go will this work
Trump’s travel ban prompted a tweet from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that read, “To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength. Welcome to Canada.”
The tweet brought a response from demonstrators in the U.S. capital of Washington, who chanted: “Hey hey, ho ho, I wish our leader was Trudeau” as they passed the Canadian Embassy on Saturday.
Canadian officials say they received no prior warning that the ban was to be imposed and U.S. officials have not publicly commented since on how the ban affects Canada.
Meanwhile, one of Canada’s two opposition parties in Parliament, the NDP, is requesting an emergency debate on the U.S. immigration ban as the House of Commons prepares to re-open following a six-week break.
The decision is up to the House of Commons Speaker.
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