<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">Courtesy of <i>CNN</i> at:<div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/americas/canada-us-asylum-trnd/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/americas/canada-us-asylum-trnd/index.html</a><br><div><br></div><div>———————————————</div><div><div><h1 class="pg-headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 4.1333333333rem; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-weight: 300; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.064516129; caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); color: rgb(38, 38, 38); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">2,550 US citizens applied for asylum in Canada in 2017. That's more than 6 times as many as in 2016</h1></div><div><br></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(115, 115, 115); color: rgb(115, 115, 115); font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254);">Updated 7:25 AM ET, Fri November 16, 2018</span></div><div><br></div><div>(CNN) - The number of US citizens seeking refuge in Canada skyrocketed last year.</div><div><br></div><div>Exactly 2,550 Americans applied for asylum in Canada in 2017, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. That's more than a sixfold increase from the 395 Americans who applied in 2016.</div><div><br></div><div>It's believed that the hard-line immigration policies of President Donald Trump have fueled the increase in the number of Americans fleeing to Canada.</div><div><br></div><div>The United States supplied the third-highest number of asylum-seekers to Canada in 2017, topped by Haiti (7,785 applicants) at No. 1 and Nigeria (6,005 applicants) at No. 2.</div><div><br></div><div>There's a large number of asylum-seekers this year as well, with 1,215 Americans requesting refuge in Canada through the end of August.</div><div><br></div><div>Canadian officials said that while Canada remains an open, welcoming country, crossing into it is not "a ticket for permanent residence."</div><div><br></div><div>"Coming to Canada, asking for asylum in Canada is not a guarantee for permanent residence in Canada," Louis Dumas, a spokesman for the immigration ministry, said last year.</div><div><br></div><div>About 80% to 85% of the US asylum-seekers are of Haitian descent, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. And most of this group are American-born minors crossing the border with their immigrant parents.</div><div><br></div><div>"The vast majority of US citizens claiming asylum are minor asylum claimants who were born in the United States whose parents are citizens of another country," said Peter Liang, a spokesman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.</div><div><br></div><div>"In these instances, the claims of persecution are made against the parents' country of origin, not the United States. However, given their citizenship, the minor children appear as US citizens in these tables. These children predominately accompanied Haitian or Nigerian national adults."</div></div><div><br></div><div>———————————————<br><br><div id="AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></body></html>