The effect of U.S. President Donald Trump’s new immigration and refugee policy did not seem to be immediately felt in Victoria. Officials at Victoria International Airport said they were not aware of any passengers affected by the new rules.
However, the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society believes Trump’s new policy — suspending all refugee admissions to the U.S. for four months, banning the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely pending a security review, and issuing a 90-day ban on all entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries with terrorism concerns, including Syria — is an opportunity for Canada.
The organization, which provides services to help newcomers settle in Canada, believes the U.S.’s new hard line offers Canada the chance to “act humanely and strategically, winning us popularity, influence and great future Canadians.”
According to David Lau, executive director of the VIRCS, Canada has a history of opening its doors when others are closed.
“It would be terrific to see our federal government use this opportunity to offer a new destination, Canada, for refugees whose resettlement has just been revoked by the White House,” Lau said. “When the tragic event of [Sept. 11, 2001] occurred and travellers were stranded, Canada responded to terrorism by being welcoming.
“It makes sense that we view this policy shift as a type of state terror and create avenues for relief of stranded refugees [and] travellers.”
Lau also noted there is a potential economic gain for Canada to offer room for foreign graduate students holding F1 (full-time student) visas.
“It is conservatively estimated that the U.S. engineering graduate level student body is over 70 per cent foreign,” Lau said.
“It makes sense that Canada draft policy that aggressively recruits these graduates who are currently completing studies at some of the world’s best universities in the U.S.
“This will translate to significant economic outcome for Canada as technology becomes a more important economic factor than our resources.”
