Mr. Speaker, the government is blind to this fact. We know that in the current migrating caravan travelling to the U.S. border, there is a small subset caravan of transgender women and gay men. They are forced to band together in order to keep themselves safe. Not only did they flee their homes because of the violence and the discrimination they faced, but they face similar dangers as they make the journey to the U.S. border to make an asylum claim.
My colleague, the member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, has called for Mexico to ensure the safety of this highly vulnerable group, for the U.S. to allow these clearly valid asylum claims to be made and that the condition of this group be monitored by NGOs like Amnesty International.
The government claims to be a champion of human rights. If these vulnerable individuals are denied having their claims heard at the U.S. border, will that finally be enough to make it realize that the U.S. is not a safe country for asylum seekers?