--- description: The U.S. Senate homeland security committee turned its attention Wednesday to the potential danger posed by refugees in Canada title: Some U.S. Senators Are Afraid of the 'Risk' Posed by Canada image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd96908e22987d2e/69887c33cf40a81f6ac41d12/syrian-refugees-canada-trudeau.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Some U.S. Senators Are Afraid of the 'Risk' Posed by Canada  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2016 10:50 PM CUT  ustin Trudeau greets refugees fleeing from Syria, as they arrive at Pearson International airport, in Toronto, on Dec. 11, 2015. ustin Trudeau greets refugees fleeing from Syria, as they arrive at Pearson International airport, in Toronto, on Dec. 11, 2015.Nathan Denette—AP  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2016 10:50 PM CUT The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee turned its attention on Wednesday to the [potential danger](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/04/us-senate-committee-questions-candadian-border-threat "undefined") posed by Canada because of its refugee plan. Committee members discussed the threat posed by the country now that it has pledged to [take in 50,000 Syrian refugees](http://time.com/4158215/canada-syrian-refugees-2016/ "undefined") in 2016, a move that some interpreted as dangerous, [according to The _Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/04/us-senate-committee-questions-candadian-border-threat "undefined")_._ “If Canada is accelerating that program, that puts us more at risk,” said Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. But others who testified at the meeting refuted the notion that refugees are a danger and expressed skepticism that a border wall—like the one [Donald Trump has proposed](http://time.com/4178881/donald-trump-campaign-speeches/ "undefined") to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico—would even help. “We’ve got great lakes and great fishing and hundreds of miles of the border is actually under water. I don’t know how you build a wall under water,” said Laura Dawson, director of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center. “Without being cute, the United States is more of a risk to Canada than Canada is to the United States.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4208580/canada-syrian-refugees-homeland-security/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4208580/canada-syrian-refugees-homeland-security/"},"headline":"Some U.S. Senators Are Afraid of the 'Risk' Posed by Canada","datePublished":"2016-02-04T22:50:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:47:10.642Z","description":"\"The United States is more of a risk to Canada than Canada is to the United States\"","url":"https://time.com/4208580/canada-syrian-refugees-homeland-security/","keywords":["Canada"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd96908e22987d2e/69887c33cf40a81f6ac41d12/syrian-refugees-canada-trudeau.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd96908e22987d2e/69887c33cf40a81f6ac41d12/syrian-refugees-canada-trudeau.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Justin Trudeau","caption":"Justin Trudeau","creditText":"Nathan Denette—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4208580/canada-syrian-refugees-homeland-security/","name":"Some U.S. Senators Are Afraid of the 'Risk' Posed by Canada"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Canada's New PM Is Still Moving Ahead With Pot Legalization","description":"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet makes it clear he still plans on legalizing marijuana in Canada.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/quKLc7mE/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-06T00:25:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/quKLc7mE.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4208580/canada-syrian-refugees-homeland-security/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4208580/canada-syrian-refugees-homeland-security/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```