Title: Canadian Refugee Applicant Claims Accidental U.S. Crossing

OTTAWA - A Bangladeshi refugee applicant in U.S. custody says he mistakenly crossed the border into the United States and is now unable to return to Canada. Mahin Shahriar, currently detained at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Buffalo, entered the U.S. on May 12, believing he was the victim of a human trafficking attempt.

In a phone interview from ICE custody, Shahriar explained that he was struggling with depression when a friend offered him a place to stay near Montreal. "I wanted to spend some time out of my home, and he said he had a place I could stay," he said. However, the address he received led him to a rural road near the Canada-U.S. border. "I was instructed by my friend who was on a call. So he was guiding me for everything, like he was looking on a GPS and he just instructed me on where to go," Shahriar recounted. "Then I found myself in the U.S. It was not my intention."

Upon realizing he was in the U.S., Shahriar approached border patrol officers to explain his situation, hoping they would assist him in returning to Canada. Instead, he was taken into custody. An email from ICE to Shahriar's lawyer, Washim Ahmed, dated August 1, stated that the U.S. would not compel Canadian authorities to accept him back.

Both Shahriar and Ahmed have expressed concerns for his safety if he is deported to Bangladesh, where Shahriar could face detention and torture due to charges related to helping his mother and sister flee the country. Shahriar's family fled to Canada after his parents' marriage ended. Ahmed noted that Shahriar is not currently being deported to Bangladesh because ICE lacks his travel documents and he has expressed a desire to return to Canada.

"(ICE) said they tried to send me back to Canada, but Canada denied my entry. After that, they didn’t tell me anything," Shahriar said. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) does not comment on individual cases but stated that anyone attempting to enter Canada must go through a CBSA examination center, with entry assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Ahmed is working to schedule an urgent Federal Court hearing to request that the CBSA accept Shahriar's transfer to Canada on humanitarian grounds. He emphasized that Shahriar was a resident of Canada and has family members there who maintain valid legal status.

Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, Ahmed argues that the CBSA should accept Shahriar from the U.S. The agreement stipulates that a refugee cannot make an asylum claim in Canada or the U.S. if they arrived in the other country first. "So (the Safe Third Country Agreement) requires that if somebody's detained either in the U.S. or in Canada within 14 days of their entry, then the country shall return the person to the country that they came from, which is Canada," Ahmed explained.

On September 24, Shahriar signed U.S. immigration documents stating he is not seeking protection in the U.S. because his family has been approved for asylum in Canada, and he has a pending asylum application. Shahriar, who has lived in Canada since 2019, previously worked as an Uber driver to support his mother and younger sister, who is currently attending school full-time.

The situation has taken a toll on Shahriar's family. Ahmed reported that Shahriar's mother has been hospitalized multiple times due to depression, and his sister is struggling to balance work and school. "(Shahriar's sister) is trying extremely hard to work and she was telling me that she may have to stop studying because she can’t afford tuition and fees and support the family while working and studying," Ahmed said.

Shahriar's initial refugee application was rejected, a situation he attributes to an immigration scam involving a fraudulent consultant. This rejection has contributed to his mental health challenges, leading to his current predicament in ICE custody. Ahmed filed a pre-removal risk assessment for Shahriar earlier this year in an effort to keep him in Canada.