PBS News Weekend 
Season 8, Episode 61 of 99
An unprecedented number of asylum-seekers fled the United States during President Trump's first year in office, representing a historic reversal for America, long seen as a haven for persecuted people from around the world. They often head to Canada, where in 2017 some 20,000 asylum-seekers were apprehended by Canadian police as they made their way north. In 2016, former President Obama's last year in office, less than 2,500 individuals were arrested crossing the border. Many refugees enter the U.S. on non-immigrant visas and hope they can claim asylum. But increasingly, under the Trump administration's strict immigration controls, refugees fear they could be deported back to their home countries, where they often face war and poverty. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Simon Ostrovsky reports.
