This immigrant left the U.S. to seek asylum in Canada and regrets it

Jose Castillo is an undocumented immigrant, who after 15 years in the U.S. uprooted his family, hid them in the basement of a church in Buffalo, and snuck them across the border to Canada to seek asylum.

Watch: Anywhere but here: An undocumented immigrant’s journey to Canada

It was supposed to be the end of his struggle — like tens of thousands of immigrants who have fled to Canada, Jose believed he would be welcomed with open arms. But now, just 10 months later, he’s worried he might have made a huge mistake.

VICE News traveled to Canada, where Jose and more than 20,000 other people are learning that the country isn’t quite as welcoming as they thought — and government officials are being dispatched to the United States to clear up the misunderstanding before another 20,000 show up.

This segment originally aired February 1, 2018 on VICE News Tonight on HBO.