President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have many concrete plans for what he wants to do when he gets into office. His policy list is thin, but there are two things he’s talked about a lot: deportations and tariffs. 

Trump has said he plans to deport millions of people in the U.S. who don’t have legal status. Yesterday, he said he would use the military to carry out this plan. He also wants to use tariffs to develop industry here.

But how will these policy changes affect neighboring countries like Canada and Mexico? Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens joined The Metro on Tuesday to talk about the potential impact in Canada.

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Dilkens says Canada has long been impacted by U.S. immigration policy at the Mexico-U.S. border.

“The millions of people who have crossed [the U.S.-Mexico border] in the last four years, many of them have made their way up to Canada, crossed illegally into the country,” he said. “And so in my city today, I’ve got two hotels who overlook the Detroit River and stare at Detroit, full of people who have crossed into our country, waiting for their cases to be adjudicated by our immigration and refugee group in Canada.”

In 2004, the U.S. and Canada entered into a Safe Third Country Agreement, a treaty between the two governments with the goal of better managing the flow of refugees better manage the flow of refugees seeking asylum at the border.

As part of the agreement, individuals seeking asylum in Canada are required to request refugee protection in the first safe country they arrive in, unless they qualify for an exception, Dilkens said.

“If you’re entering Canada to claim refugee status from the United States, you’re now required to wait in the United States to have your case adjudicated,” he said. “We’re no longer going to put you up in hotels and have you hang out here.”

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro Nov. 19, 2024: 

• What is today known as the Knights of Columbus Hall in Clawson, used to be a raucous concert venue called The Hideout from 1966 to 1969. It was the third location in a series of teen clubs in southeast Michigan, where legendary musicians like The MC5, many of Bob Seger’s early groups, and The Subterraneans once played. Martin Hirchak, a Detroit cartoonist and graphic designer, joined the show to talk about the former venue, and an upcoming event at Knights of Columbus, “Tales from the Clawson Comic Book and Toy Show.”
• Educators at the College of Creative Studies (CCS) have made it their mission to stoke the flame of creativity already inside the students they teach. Fiber Flux, a new exhibition on view through Dec. 14 at the Valade Family Gallery on CSS’ campus, pays homage to arts educators across the Midwest through fiber art. Wayne State Associate Professor of Fashion and Fibers Heather Macali and Professor and Section Lead of Fiber and Textiles at CCS, Jeremy Noonan, joined the show to discuss the exhibition.
• Last week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced he won’t run for another term. WDET’s Senior News Editor Quinn Kleinfelter joined the show to discuss the mayor’s legacy and what the future might hold for both the city of Detroit and Duggan’s political future.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The U.S. presidential election is just a few weeks away, and early in-person voting has already begun in some communities.

As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump’s campaigns ramp up in key swing states like Michigan, we continue talking to voters about what’s motivating them to vote in this pivotal election year.

As part of that ongoing conversation, WDET hosted the international special, America Votes: A Cross-Border Conversation  — in collaboration with CBC Radio and NPR — featuring Jeremy Hobson of NPR’s The Middle, and Ian Hanomansing, host of CBC’s Cross Country Checkup.

The U.S. election special broadcasted live across the U.S. and Canada from 4-6 p.m. on Sunday, with many listeners from both the U.S. and Canada calling in to join the conversation and share how the election’s outcome could affect them.

Watch the video below to hear the full conversation.

WDET will pre-empt its regular programming from 4-6 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 20, to host a special collaboration between Canada’s national broadcaster, CBC Radio, and American National Public Radio to bring a special international call-in version of CBC’s Cross Country Checkup and NPR’s The Middle. 

The broadcast, titled America Votes: A Cross-Border Conversation, will air across Canada and the U.S., bringing international focus to the city of Detroit. The collaborative show will focus on the impending national election’s impact on the U.S. and Canada’s relationship; and WDET’s distinction as a cross-border broadcaster at North America’s largest trade corridor sets us up as the appropriate station to host this international conversation.

Jeremy Hobson, host of The Middle, and Ian Hanomansing, co-host of CBC’s The National and host of Cross-Country Check-Up, will both be present at WDET for the live interactive broadcast.

Here’s how to join the conversation

Call in details:

• Call live: 1-888-416-8333
• Text: 226-758-8924
• Share your story now (anytime): cbc.ca/aircheck

Show pages:

• Checkup page: cbc.ca/radio/checkup
• The Middle page: listentothemiddle.com

Watch live:

• CBC News: cbc.ca/news
• YouTube: youtube.com/@CBCNews
• Tiktok: tiktok.com/@cbcnews?lang=en

Listen live at 101.9 WDET FM in Detroit, or online at wdet.org.

Or, join the conversation by filling out the form below.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to be complete in 2025.

The bridge is being built in Detroit’s Delray neighborhood in Southwest Detroit — a place where, for years, residents have faced issues associated with heavy industry. Now, residents are dealing with the challenges that come with the construction of a roughly $4.2 billion international bridge. 

Simone Sagovac, director of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition, joined The Metro on Tuesday to help us understand the impact the bridge has had and will have on residents.

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In 2017, the group helped secure an almost $50 million benefits package for people living in the area. One of the overall issues people in the community face has to do with truck traffic, Sagovac says. During the coalition’s data gathering efforts, they counted 1,200 trucks driving on Livernois Street in one day.

“Something that wasn’t really anticipated was, you know, the scale of a development like this. It is the largest infrastructure project that both countries have had in 100 years and it’s 165-plus acres,” Sagovac said. “And when they’re in the thick of construction, and there’s no grass, and no trees covering that dirt – the dust has been a huge problem for the community. People have chronic sinus conditions. Asthma accelerated in the area. And the project is trying to do things with street sweeping but the dirt gets carried on the trucks and these trucks are allowed to drive on residential streets.” 

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Simone Sagovac, director of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition.

More headlines from The Metro on Sept. 10, 2024: 

• The Detroit area is home to one of the largest groups of people with sickle cell disease in the country. The painful disease is caused by an inherited genetic mutation and most of the people who have it are Black. For decades, there weren’t many treatment options for the disease outside of pain medication. But in recent years, new medical technologies have helped alleviate and even cure sickle cell disease. Larenz Caldwell, a sickle cell patient who underwent a stem cell transplant six years ago; and Outlier Media Science Reporter Koby Levin joined the show to discuss. 
• The Detroit Fiber Club is hosting an immersive exhibit showcasing environmental- and fiber-based art at the Boyer Campbell Building in Milwaukee Junction through Sept. 28, as part of the Detroit Month of Design. To discuss the exhibit, we were joined by Co-Curators Sarah Rose and Lisa Waud, and Detroit Fiber Club Managing Director Meg Morley.
• Detroit Artist LeKela Brown is kicking off the College for Creative Studies’ Woodward Lecture Series. The CCS graduated joined The Metro to talk about her work and her first solo-presentation, “From Scratch: Seeding Adornment,” currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.