Photo credit: CTV News
Schools in Surrey, Ontario organize between 40 and 60 international field trips for students and staff each year. Half of them are to the United States.
CTV News reports that after several high-profile cases of US Immigration authorities detaining foreign travelers, Surrey’s school trips have been put on hold.
Surrey superintendent Mark Pearmain said, “Recognizing that we have members of our school community that are Canadian citizens, some are here on permanent resident cards or temporary work permits … the last thing we want is to have a really negative experience for one of our students or staff at the border.”
It appears that only Surrey school district has taken the step. In a statement, the Vancouver School Board said, “To date, we do not have a district policy that prohibits field study requests to the United States. However, we continue to monitor the changing political climate and take this into account as we receive them.”
