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Applications from American citizens registering for refugee status in Canada have spiked since Donald Trump’s return to office, with more filed in the first half of 2025 than in all of last year.
Data released by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board last week on claims of alleged persecution by the country revealed that there were 245 refugee applications made by U.S. citizens in the first six months of this year. It marks a stark uptick in claims, with 204 referrals filed by Americans in the whole of 2024. The number of U.S. citizens applying for refugee status in Canada this year surpassed full-year figures since 2019.
While the number has surged, it represents only a fraction of the more than 55,000 total claims filed through June, with claimants from India accounting for almost a fifth of that total.
Canada’s acceptance of U.S. refugees has also historically been low. Applicants must convince Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board that no part of the U.S. offers them safety to gain asylum.
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The data does not specify why Americans are seeking refugee status north of the border, a nation Trump wants to become the 51st U.S. state.
However, the trend reflects a growing perception among some Americans that their safety and rights are at risk due to the Trump administration’s policies, ranging from a rollback of LGBTQ+ rights and attacks against academic institutions.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Reuters that Americans claiming refugee status in Canada would free up room for individuals “facing actual fear and persecution.”
Eight lawyers told the news agency they are hearing from more trans Americans wanting to leave the U.S. under the president’s crackdown on transgender rights.
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In March, Kaitlyn and Ted Berg of Illinois told CBC that they were awaiting a decision from a Canadian tribunal to seek asylum after the president’s claims that there are only two genders.
One of the Bergs’ older children is transgender and another identifies as gender fluid, they told the Canadian outlet.
Hannah Kreager, a transgender woman from Arizona, also applied for asylum in Canada in June, “in hopes of finding safety, security and the freedom to continue to live my life,” she wrote on a GoFundMe campaign.
Claims from the U.S. also rose during the first Trump administration.
When Trump first took office in 2017, thousands of asylum-seekers crossed into Canada between formal border points to file refugee claims, until Canada and the U.S. expanded a bilateral agreement requiring them to apply for asylum in the first “safe” country they entered.
By the end of the year, some 2,550 U.S. citizens applied for asylum in Canada, an increase of more than sixfold from 2016 and the highest number of applicants since records began.
