A Canadian refugee applicant from Bangladesh who is being held in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Buffalo says he crossed the border into the U.S. by mistake -- and now Canada won't take him back.
Mahin Shahriar told The Canadian Press he entered the U.S. on May 12 after what he believes was a human trafficking attempt.
Shahriar said he was struggling with depression and "a friend" offered him a place to stay for a few days near Montreal.
"I wanted to spend some time out of my home, and he said he had a place I could stay," Shahriar said in a phone interview from ICE custody.
Shahriar said the address he was given led to a rural road that turned out to be close to the Canada-U.S. border.
"I was instructed by my friend who was on a call. So he was guiding me for everything, like he was looking on a GPS and he just instructed me on where to go," Shahriar said in the phone interview.
"Then I found myself in the U.S. It was not my intention."
Shahriar said that once he realized he was in the United States, he approached some border patrol officers to explain his situation. Shahriar said he thought they would help him return to Canada, but he was taken into custody instead.
An Aug. 1 email sent by ICE to Shahriar's lawyer, Washim Ahmed, says the U.S. will not compel Canadian authorities to accept Shahriar.
Both Shahriar and Ahmed said ICE has recognized Shahriar could face harm if he is deported to Bangladesh, but that could still happen.
Ahmed told The Canadian Press that Shahriar is at risk of detention and torture if he is returned to Bangladesh. He faces obstruction of justice charges for helping his mother and younger sister flee the country.
Shahriar said that after his parents' marriage broke down, he, his mother and sister fled to Canada.
Ahmed said Shahriar is not being deported to Bangladesh at this point because ICE does not have his travel document and noted Shahriar's desire to re-enter Canada.
"(ICE) said they tried to send me back to Canada, but Canada denied my entry. After that they didn't tell me anything," Shahriar said.
The Canada Border Services Agency does not comment on specific cases. In an emailed reply, a CBSA spokesperson said the agency does not intervene on behalf of foreign nationals subject to immigration enforcement in another country.
The spokesperson said that under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, anyone trying to enter Canada must appear at a CBSA examination centre and entry is judged on a case-by-case basis.
Ahmed said ICE won't bring Shahriar to a CBSA examination centre without prior approval from the CBSA.
Ahmed said he is working to schedule an urgent Federal Court hearing to press the CBSA to accept Shahriar's transfer to Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
"Regardless of what status he may have had prior to leaving Canada, he was a resident of Canada," Ahmed said. "He was the resident of Canada and he had his first blood family member in Canada, his sister and his mother. Both of them are maintaining valid legal status."
Ahmed said that under the Safe Third Country Agreement, the CBSA should accept Shahriar from the U.S. The agreement states that a refugee can't make an asylum claim in Canada or the U.S. if they arrived in the other country first.
"So (the Safe Third Country Agreement) requires that if somebody's detained either in the U.S. or in Canada within 14 days of their entry, then the country shall return the person to the country that they came from, which is Canada," Ahmed said.
Shahriar signed U.S. immigration documents on Sept. 24 saying he is not seeking protection in the U.S. due to his family being approved for asylum in Canada and his own pending asylum application.
Shahriar, who has been in Canada since 2019, said he drove an Uber to support his mother and younger sister. His mother is a refugee and his sister is attending school full-time.
Ahmed said the stress of the situation is having a detrimental effect on Shahriar's family.
"His mother already has been hospitalized a few times because of depression and the mental health toll," Ahmed said.
"(Shahriar's sister) is trying extremely hard to work and she was telling me that she may have to stop studying because she can't afford tuition and fees and support the family while working and studying."
While Shahriar's mother is a recognized refugee, Shahriar's initial refugee application was not accepted.
Ahmed said Shahriar's initial application wound up being part of an immigration scam run by a fraudulent immigration consultant, according to his lawyer. The rejection led to the mental health challenges that contributed to him ending up in ICE custody.
Ahmed filed a pre-removal risk assessment for Shahriar earlier this year to try to keep him in Canada.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Family of Mahin Shahriar
