In the decision released Wednesday, Justice Ann McDonald ruled the U.S. is no longer a safe country for refugees sent back from Canada due to the risk of imprisonment.

The Federal Court has ruled that the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States is unconstititonal.

Canada shut down its border with the U.S. last month in deal to limit coronavirus spread.

Under the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S., asylum seekers at a formal border crossing traveling in either direction are turned back and told to apply for asylum in the country they first arrived in.

Here's a look at what exactly the Safe Third Country Agreement is, and why it's been challenged in court — again. 

Those challenging the Safe Third Country Agreement say it is unconstitutional because it discriminates against women and deprives people of basic rights.

Some pledges have been criticized by experts as “half baked” or “doomed to failure,” while others have been embraced as possible fixes to the growing gap in some areas of the labour market.

Since February 2017, about 45,000 people have requested asylum in Canada after entering the country between formal border crossings.

Trudeau said in the debate that May’s claim that new federal rules were denying refugees’ human rights was “absolutely false.”

Experts are questioning whether Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer can successfully close the border loophole without full co-operation from the U.S.