She Fled From a Mexican Cartel. A New Canadian Law May Block Her Path to Safety.

Toronto, Canada — Ale saw Canada as a lifeline. Members of a drug cartel in her home country of Mexico had her in their sights, and over the course of three years, the 32-year-old had been beaten, raped, kidnapped, and extorted for thousands of dollars.

The cartel members had threatened her and her parents, and they killed her dog.

Yet despite pleading with local police for help, Ale — who asked to only be identified by a first name due to a fear of reprisals — said no action was taken. She was on her own.

“It was a very hard situation for me because nobody can help me,” she recalled. “Nobody.”

So when she had saved up enough money to fly to Canada in March, Ale said she hoped to rebuild her life far from the violence that had plagued her.

But a new Canadian law, which restricts access to the country’s asylum system and has been denounced by dozens of civil society groups as an affront to the rights of migrants and refugees, has put those dreams at risk.

“I thought I would be able to be safe here,” Ale told Truthout in an interview in Toronto, Canada’s largest city. “But with all these things that are happening now, I’m so confused about my future.”

What Is Bill C-12?

The Canadian government passed the new law — the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, more commonly known as Bill C-12 — in late March.

Officials said the legislation would help reduce pressure on a backlogged immigration system and deter people from making unfounded asylum claims in an attempt to stay in Canada after the closure of other immigration pathways.

Bill C-12 came amid years of growing anti-immigrant views and rhetoric in Canada, fueled in large part by right-wing politicians and groups under the shadow of deepening socioeconomic issues.

Newcomers have been blamed for a slew of social problems, from a lack of affordable housing to long hospital wait times. And in 2024, for the first time in over two decades, that a majority of Canadians said there was “too much” immigration.

The shift has mirrored similar anti-migrant and anti-refugee trends happening south of the border in the United States and in other countries as global displacement has soared in recent years.

As U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to launch a wide-reaching crackdown on migrants and refugees after winning the 2024 election, Canada also moved to tighten its immigration system following a rapid influx of newcomers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The curbs began under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who, as he fought to save his political career ahead of a 2025 vote, tapped into growing public discontent over immigration to announce cuts to major programs.

The restrictions have continued — and gone even further — since Trudeau’s successor, Mark Carney, took office in April 2025. Carney has maintained sweeping cuts to international student visas, strengthened policing at the Canada-U.S. border, and slashed a health care program for refugees.

The central banker-turned-prime minister also is overseeing wide-reaching budget cuts across the government, including the immigration department.

“We made a commitment to Canadians to strengthen our borders and restore control to immigration — and we’re delivering,” Lena Diab, Canada’s immigration minister, said in a social media post on March 26 hailing Bill C-12.

“These measures will better protect the integrity of our asylum system, support responsible migration, and crack down on transnational crime. This is how we keep communities safe and restore balance and confidence in our system.”

“One-Year Bar”

But a coalition of human rights and civil society groups had spent weeks lobbying against Bill C-12, which they denounced as a possible breach of Canada’s own constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Several elements of the legislation have drawn concern, including a new rule that bars some asylum seekers from getting a full, oral hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), the independent tribunal that adjudicates refugee claims.

The so-called “one-year bar” applies to refugee claimants who put their applications in more than one year after they first stepped foot on Canadian soil for the first time.

Instead of getting to make their case at the IRB, those affected claimants will now get what’s called a pre-removal risk assessment — a written process that critics say offers fewer protections and is “wholly inadequate.”

“It’s very difficult for refugee claimants to make their case in writing,” explained Sharry Aiken, a law professor at Queen’s University in the province of Ontario. Legal know-how is necessary, she said, and applicants typically have a tighter timeline to complete a pre-removal risk assessment application. “If they don’t have [legal] counsel, it’s very, very difficult.”

The “one-year bar” mirrors a similar rule in the U.S. that has drawn years of criticism from rights groups and immigration experts, who have described it as “inefficient, counterproductive, inhumane, and unlawful.”

But Aiken said Canada’s restriction goes even further than what’s on the books in the U.S. because the Canadian law is “both retroactive and retrospective.”

“If someone visited Canada as a toddler with their parents to go look at Niagara Falls and then left and then came back years later to claim refugee status, this ‘one-year bar’ applies to them. In other words, the clock starts ticking from their first visit in Canada, regardless of the reason for that visit,” she said.

“The very measure that has been subject to extensive criticism in the United States, Canadian policy makers have copied and rendered even more problematic,” Aiken added.

Ale is among thousands of refugee claimants whose cases are expected to be affected by the new rule.

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Specifically, Canada’s “one-year bar” applies retroactively to June 24, 2020, and to claims made after early June 2025.

Ale first came to Canada for a vacation in 2023, spending one week in the country before going back home to Mexico. Under Bill C-12, that means her one-year window to apply for asylum in the country began at that time.

“They say, why [didn’t you] apply for refugee protection in 2023? Because [the cartel members] came and they raped me later, not in 2023,” she said in an interview at FCJ Refugee Centre, a group that supports refugees and asylum seekers in Toronto.

“When I came here [the first time], I was just on vacation. How would I think to apply for refugee protection in that moment? It makes no sense,” she said.

“Bound to Fail”

Experts also say there are many valid reasons to explain why it may take longer than 12 months for asylum seekers who are already in Canada to apply for protection.

Circumstances may have changed in their home countries between the time they arrived and when they claimed protection, such as the outbreak of war or armed conflict. They also may have health issues, including trauma, that makes it impossible to apply within 12 months of arrival.

Rights advocates also have warned that LGBTQ+ refugee claimants who have faced persecution in their home countries often take longer than one year to put in a claim, making them especially vulnerable under the new legislation.

“In Bill C-12, what the government is doing is making everybody automatically ineligible for a hearing if they’ve delayed, and it doesn’t matter what their reason is,” Aiken said. “You’ve been here 12 months, so you go to a pre-removal risk assessment: You do not have an oral hearing, you are subject to a process that is exclusively in writing, and without counsel, you’re bound to fail.”

Aiken also disputed the idea that Bill C-12 would help address delays in Canada’s backlogged immigration system. At the end of last year, nearly 300,000 refugee claims were pending at the IRB, prompting long waits.

“People with genuine [refugee] claims, they’re not going to give up without a fight. So, all this measure actually succeeds in doing is precluding a sort of speedy, swift, fair, timely decision on the front end and shifting it to the back end,” she said.

For example, people whose claims are refused during their pre-removal risk assessment and who have access to lawyers will ask for judicial review, Aiken explained. “So, what we’re going to see is more backlog at the federal court.”

Government Defends Legislation

Asked about criticism of the legislation, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — the federal immigration department — said “safeguards remain firmly in place” under Bill C-12.

“In most cases, individuals whose claims are not referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada continue to have access to a pre-removal risk assessment,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “This process ensures that no one is removed to a country where they would face risks such as persecution, torture, or risk to life. Courts have consistently upheld the process as fair and legally sound.”

The immigration ministry has sent out thousands of letters telling refugee claimants they may be ineligible for protection under the new law and could face removal from Canada, according to Canadian media reports.

Truthout spoke to several human rights advocates who said the so-called “procedural fairness letters” have sparked widespread confusion, with many recipients erroneously believing the letters mean they must leave the country immediately.

CBC News reported that one letter that has been sent out told people that their refugee protection claims were not eligible to be heard by the IRB. It said they may be eligible to apply for a pre-removal risk assessment, but at the same time warned that, “You must leave Canada as soon as possible and confirm your departure with the Canada Border Services Agency.”

“If you do not leave Canada, a deportation order may be issued against you,” it read.

The spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said about 32,000 claims could potentially be impacted under Bill C-12, according to preliminary figures from the end of March.

“[The letters] are not deportation notices and do not mean someone will be immediately removed from Canada. They are a standard administrative tool used to request additional information before a decision is made,” they said, adding that Ottawa has been “transparent” about the measures in place.

“We will continue to be transparent at every stage of implementation.”

Fear and Confusion Reign

But refugee lawyers and advocates say Bill C-12 continues to raise serious questions while fueling a wave of fear among vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers.

At Toronto’s FCJ Refugee Centre, posters have been affixed to a door leading to the reception desk, letting people know that getting a letter “does not mean automatic deportation.”

“We have people who are scared to death,” said Diana Gallego, the organization’s co-executive director.

“People were coming: Single moms with domestic violence cases, many people from the LGBTQ community,” she told Truthout.

“I had a client crying on Monday, saying, ‘I haven’t eaten and slept for three days because I got this letter on Friday saying they are going to deport me. What am I going to do?’”

Yet despite the uncertainty, Ale — the asylum seeker from Mexico — said she hasn’t lost hope of building a new life in Canada.

“It’s so terrible to face a situation like this and not have any options or feel that you don’t have the right to be protected,” she said.

“I’m hoping that in the future the government will be fair … and the law won’t affect the people who really need to be protected.”

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