Honduran migrants Raul Contreras (L), his mother Daysi Alas (C) and step-father Ananin Cruz, who are seeking refugee status in Canada, attend a church service held in Spanish in Toronto, Ontario, Canada April 8, 2017. Picture taken April 8, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
TORONTO/WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Thousands of people who fled to Canada to escape President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal migrants have become trapped in legal limbo because of an overburdened refugee system, struggling to find work, permanent housing or enrol their children in schools.
Refugee claims are taking longer to be completed than at any time in the past five years, according to previously unpublished Immigration and Refugee Board data provided to Reuters. Those wait times are set to grow longer after the IRB in April allocated “up to half” of its 127 tribunal members to focus on old cases. The number of delayed hearings more than doubled from 2015 to 2016 and is on track to increase again this year.
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