Mr. Speaker, the second petition has 1,596 signatures and calls upon the government to note that the safe third country agreement states that only countries that respect human rights and offer a high degree of protection to asylum seekers may be designated as a safe third country.
The petitioners state that the President of the United States has purposely and premeditatedly adopted practices such as a Muslim travel ban, has forcibly separated children from their parents who were seeking asylum. They also state that the United States no longer recognizes domestic violence or gang violence as a legitimate reason for asylum; that it has adopted a zero tolerance policy designating all irregular crossers claiming asylum as having committed a criminal act subject to prosecution; and that under the Donald Trump administration, it has demonstrated it will continue to ignore international human rights and refugee laws.
The petitioners therefore call upon the government to suspend the safe third country agreement.