This article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/16/world/canada/refugees-in-canada.htmlApparently these two guys were in the US from Ghana trying to get refugee status. One was gay and would be persecuted if sent back. The other one seems to have pissed off the wrong people.
Anyway, they decided to flee the US by walking across the Canadian border, in the prairies, in the middle of winter. Sounds like it was near the border town of Emerson on the Minnesota/Manitoba border. They were found by a trucker, near hypothermic, with severe frostbite. The frostbite was bad enough that one of them lost *all* his fingers, and the other was able to keep only a thumb.
Canada granted them legal aid and they were accepted as refugees and allowed to stay in Canada. Since we have public health care, we are providing support with occupational therapy, surgery and general medical care. A plastic surgeon even offered to transplant some toes onto their hands to act as fingers.
This story has a lot of nuance to it.
Winnipeg has a Ghanian community which has welcomed them. However, we have no idea how well they'll integrate into society. They could be running from many possible problems in Ghana. They could have no usable skills, or they could become thriving small business owners.
They probably received better health care in Canada than many Americans could get in the US.
For some reason, they didn't wear winter clothing for the crossing. Maybe they were on the run & couldn't get any, I don't know. Maybe they didn't know how cold it gets in the prairies in the winter.
We've had about 1100 other people make the same crossing in Q1. News media has been oddly silent on this topic since the winter. How many refugees are crossing now?