Canada and the US immigration ban

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – People catching a plane out of Canada are feeling the effects of the new US president’s refugee ban.

Donald Trump announced yesterday that people with passports from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran and Syria, are banned from entering the United States.

Now today, Air Canada and WestJet and issuing statements that people with Green Cards from those affected countries are no longer allowed to board flights traveling to or transiting through the US.

Anyone affected is told to contact their local American Embassy.

So what does this American refugee ban mean for immigration services here at home? One local group is already pushing the federal government to step up.

“We’ve been watching this, the recent executive orders, with grave concern,” says Chris Friesen with Immigrant Services Society of BC.

He also chairs a national Immigrant Settlement Alliance.

Friesen says this move to stop the flow of refugees is disappointing and ignores the fact that none of the roughly 750,000 refugees to settle in the US since 9/11 have been linked to terrorism.

He adds that thousands of children are at risk of being left behind. His group has started pushing the federal government to up their 2017 resettlement targets.

“We feel that Canada has more capacity to support higher-level humanitarian immigration targets than what is currently been announced.”

The Family of Alan Kurdi reacts

One Syrian family is urging people not to forget the lessons of the recent past.

Back in 2015, photos of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying face down on a Mediterranean beach led countries around the world to open their doors to refugees.

The body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi washes ashore the Mediterranean Sea.

“Nobody, nobody in the world, should every forget that image of my nephew. That innocent boy,” says Tima Kurdi, Alan’s aunt.

Kurdi lives in Coquitlam. Like thousands of others, she’s now left wondering when she’ll be able to cross into the States or see her family back in Syria.

“This is unacceptable. It’s a terrible decision.”

She’s urging those who disagree with this policy not to be afraid and to make their voices heard.

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