Good morning, subscribers! We hope you are keeping warm as the snow falls and the temperatures drop. Monday, December 18 was International Migrants Day, and to celebrate we bring you a collection of articles about the important policy issues involved in human migration, in Canada and around the world.

This week’s Morning Brief was prepared by Sasha Gronsdahl. Sign up here to receive the Morning Brief directly to your inbox.

• All year, asylum seekers crossing the border into Canada have been in the news. Many people cross outside of official checkpoints because of a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the US. Matthew Plouffe explains the consequences of this agreement and recent court challenges to it. [Plouffe/PPGR]

• Across the ocean, Western Europe has seen shifts in public discourse about migrants recently after an influx of asylum-seekers. PPGR foreign correspondent Emily Wong, writing from Berlin, urges attention and action to address anti-immigrant sentiments. [Wong/PPGR]

• The United States has announced it will end protective status for Haitians in the US, and Canadian officials are bracing for another influx of people crossing the border into Canada as a result. Will 2018 be the year that, as Meagan Campbell puts it, Canada “flips its metaphorical welcome mat”? [Campbell/Maclean’s]

• Canada is known around the world for its efforts to resettle refugees – but once newcomers arrive, how do they fare? Recent Yazidi arrivals from Iraq, traumatized and vulnerable, face extreme challenges in accessing supports and building a new life in Canada. [Buck/Chatelaine]