Jessica arrived in New Brunswick confused and disoriented, getting off a bus on a cold March night after a more than 10-hour drive from Roxham Road. She knew nothing about Moncton, the town to which she had been sent.
“They never told me where we were going,” she said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter.
Jessica is one of more than 200 asylum seekers who, after arriving in Quebec, are bussed across the international border to New Brunswick. Her move to Moncton was part of a federal government scramble to divert migrants to other parts of the country.
Several migrants told CBC News they were ushered onto buses without knowing where they were going or why, only to arrive in Moncton or Fredericton. The move has brought asylum seekers from around the world to a province they say has minimal legal assistance, a shortage of language interpreters and limited resources to help with basic needs.
Jessica fled violence in Ecuador to the United States and embarked on a harrowing month-long journey across Central America. Fearing for her life, she was robbed at gunpoint, crossed a Colombian jungle and spent four days in a Mexican prison before finally crossing the border on foot.
After about a month in New York City, she turned her attention to Canada after researching an unofficial border crossing called Roxham Road.
CBC News has agreed to protect Jessica’s identity as she fears violence against herself or family members who are still in Ecuador.
“I often cried about it”
Jessica lives in one of more than 100 hotel rooms reserved in Moncton by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to provide temporary housing for people arriving by bus from Roxham Road.
In March, New Brunswick agreed to take in the migrants after Quebec said it could not handle more.
The 243 asylum seekers in New Brunswick speak multiple languages, and local volunteers estimate that about half are originally from Latin America. There are migrants from countries around the world including Angola, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Mexico, Senegal, Venezuela, Turkey, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.
CLOCK | Meet two asylum seekers and the people who help them:
After arriving in New Brunswick on March 19, Jessica said no one had given her any information about her next steps.
“Nobody helps you. You are alone in the hotel,” she said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter.
Jessica said shortly after crossing Roxham Road she was ushered onto a bus by immigration officers. She arrived in Moncton about 10 hours later, not knowing anything about the place she had been sent to.
She speaks only Spanish and initially struggled to find answers about her next steps.
“I often cried about it. It is very difficult not to have help, to be alone. It’s very difficult,” she said.
“It gets harder because they never have a sane answer that helps.”
“They were very afraid”
When asylum seekers first got off the buses in early March, most needed warm winter clothing. Volunteers from Hola New Brunswick and Moncton Cares, two non-profit settlement organizations, held a clothing drive to help.
Hola New Brunswick works primarily with Spanish speaking migrants. The group has no office, paid staff, or government funding, but it is a lifeline for dozens of people to access resources.
Ana Santana, the organization’s operations manager, has met dozens of asylum seekers to enroll their children in school.
“They were extremely scared and scared when they arrived,” she said.
The first question we were asked by one of the families was, ‘Where are we?’ So we said, ‘Okay, let’s sit down and explain where you are and why you’re here.’ It was hard.”
Legal aid clinic overwhelmed
The influx can be felt at the New Brunswick Refugee Clinic. The non-profit organization Moncton has more than 200 new applicants to support and only one full-time employee.
“It was really a challenge for us. We’re definitely overwhelmed,” said Olivia Huynh, the clinic’s managing director.
When asylum seekers enter Canada for the first time, they only have 45 days to apply or apply for an extension. They must prove that they are exposed to significant dangers in their country. If the deadline expires, they could be deported.
Huynh said the refugee clinic is holding information sessions to reach as many asylum seekers as possible. But she said some are filing bases of claims without a lawyer — so as not to miss the deadline.
“I think the worst case scenario is to see people who have a credible fear of persecution or a serious risk in their home country of missing out on their refugee entitlements and are deported because they didn’t have enough resources during the early stages of the process or support was their entitlement,” she said.
After submitting an application, eligible asylum seekers are given a hearing to say they face persecution or danger if forced to leave the country. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada decides whether they should be granted refugee status to remain in Canada.
New Brunswick Immigration Secretary Arlene Dunn said in a statement that the province is funding MAGMA through Opportunities New Brunswick. She said temporary emergency funding is also going to the refugee clinic to hire a full-time lawyer.
language barriers
Jessica said staff at the multicultural association promised a full list of services, including English classes and liaison with legal counsel. But she said 20 days passed then they told her they couldn’t help her. When time was running out, she sold her remaining belongings back home in Ecuador to hire a lawyer.
“I’m afraid I won’t get my papers because I didn’t get the help I needed at the beginning,” she said in Spanish. “There’s always a chance of losing everything because I didn’t get early legal advice.”
Hola NB is also helping a man who fled political violence in Venezuela over fears his family could be killed. They first went to Central America before making a long trek to the US land border, New York City, and finally entering Canada at Roxham Road.
CBC News has agreed to protect his identity because he fears repercussions if his family is deported back to Venezuela.
Like many asylum seekers in Moncton, he speaks neither English nor French. He said he’s trying to learn English online through the public library, but the language barrier remains a struggle.
“Without the language, I really don’t have a chance. I’ve been contacted by three different employers and if they find I don’t speak the language, just tell me we’ll contact you,” he said in Spanish.
Asylum seekers are entitled to a work permit while awaiting their hearing. They are provided with food and shelter by the federal government until they can find employment and move into an apartment.
The Venezuelan man said he had few opportunities to learn English and wanted to take a course to find a job.
“It’s very uncomfortable. I’ve always worked and never been dependent on anyone,” he said.
The Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area is working to help migrants stay at the hotel. But the federal funding it receives is specifically earmarked for state-sponsored refugees. This means that asylum seekers cannot attend an English course.
Ron Gaudet, the organization’s chief strategy officer, said he hopes to work with all levels of government to expand existing programs to include asylum seekers.
“We currently offer language courses for refugees who fall under a certain state status. And the constitution allows us to do that,” he said. “We recognize that we need to do more. We want to do more.”
New Brunswick Immigration Secretary Arlene Dunn said in a statement that the province is funding MAGMA through Opportunities New Brunswick. She said temporary emergency funding is also going to the refugee clinic to hire a full-time lawyer.
“Not well prepared”
Hola NB and Moncton Cares both said they originally received information from the federal government but are now cut off from any updates about new arrivals.
“I don’t think New Brunswick was well prepared,” said Moncton Cares’ Ketan Raval. “We didn’t know until the last moment how many were coming, who was coming.”
Migrant advocates are sounding the alarm about the federal government’s decision to relocate people to New Brunswick.
Aditya Rao, a board member at the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre, said the process of transferring asylum seekers had been “botched”.
“People have been transferred to a jurisdiction where they have literally no meaningful access to legal counsel for a process which, if unsuccessful, could result in their deportation, possibly prosecution. The federal government knowingly put people’s lives at risk,” he said.
Better system needed
Volunteers working on the ground expect asylum seekers to continue arriving in New Brunswick in the coming months.
Tabaré de los Santos, president of Hola NB, said the province needed a better system to support the influx of people. His organization has gone from taking in one to three migrants a month to the sudden arrival of more than 100.
“‘[It was] definitely overwhelming,” he said. “The situation is better for them but they still need a lot of help.”
De los Santos said the situation should be viewed as a “reality check”.
“People will keep coming. Even if there are dozens or just one or two or hundreds as they have come up now.”
