have been burned<\/a> in the South.\u00a0The issues of slavery, the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan … white terrorism. All of these things have begun to resurface in other forms.”<\/p>\nThe reverend, who believed he was ministering in a progressive parish, quickly saw new tensions surface within his own congregation.<\/p>\n
He said\u00a0he received an email suggesting that his wife leave the parish. Then, he was shown the door because his values were deemed too liberal.<\/p>\n
He added\u00a0that in his former parish, openly displaying his support for the\u00a02SLGBTQ+ community and the fight against racism, as he does now in Canada, would have been risky.<\/p>\n
“I often wondered if I could do it without risking threats or the church being attacked,” he lamented.<\/p>\n
Because the open carrying of firearms in public places such as churches can be done legally in Texas, Lawrence became worried about the potential for violence.<\/p>\n
“We packed our things and left, perhaps faster than necessary, but we were scared and didn’t know what might happen.”<\/p>\n
Becoming Canadian not so simple<\/p>\n
While Apgar-Taylor and Lawrence are now enjoying their new Canadian refuge with their families, the challenge of obtaining\u00a0Canadian permanent residency is far from over.<\/p>\n
Both men have work visas linked to the United Church of Canada. They expected to obtain permanent residency after six months to two years in Canada, but Ottawa’s recent lowering of permanent immigration thresholds thwarted their plans.<\/p>\n
For example, Apgar-Taylor\u00a0and Rob still haven’t been able to become homeowners because until they obtain permanent residency, they will have to pay a 25 per cent\u00a0foreign buyers’ tax in Ontario.<\/p>\n
The situation forced Apgar-Taylor\u00a0to postpone his prostate cancer surgery for three months, when the couple had to urgently move out of their rented apartment.<\/p>\n
“I couldn’t have surgery and move at the same time,” he said. “I was devastated.”<\/p>\n
As for his husband, he had to give up his career in law enforcement and now works nights in a warehouse.<\/p>\n
Lawrence and his wife are often forced to live far apart since the trained midwife and ultrasound technician still hasn’t been able to get the qualifications\u00a0to work in her field\u00a0in Ontario.<\/p>\n
She spends several weeks a month in the United States so she can earn a living.<\/p>\n
“There were times when we wondered if we had made the right decision,” said Lawrence.<\/p>\n
In an emailed statement, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada stated\u00a0that immigration processing times “depend on various factors, including immigration targets, file complexity, security checks\u00a0and the timeliness of applicants responding to requests for information.”<\/p>\n
‘The door is closed’![\"Immigration](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/immigration-lawyer-greg-willoughby.jpg\")
Willoughby says U.S. citizens applying for immigration to Canada because they’re unhappy with the Trump administration don’t have an easy or automatic path to citizenship. (Prasanjeet Choudhury\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Immigration lawyer Greg Willoughby has heard similar stories from U.S.-born clients who face barriers trying to immigrate to\u00a0Canada.<\/p>\n
From his small office in downtown London, he regularly gets calls from Americans, including parents of transgender children, who seek to escape the U.S. administration’s policies.<\/p>\n
“When Trump was first elected, I received calls from people asking if there were specific immigration options for Americans, and the answer is\u00a0‘no,'” said\u00a0Willoughby.<\/p>\n
He pointed\u00a0out that Americans must qualify through a points system set up by Ottawa to assess them as potential immigration candidates.<\/p>\n
“If you’re not a young person in your 20s or 30s with a degree from a Canadian college or university and a few years of work experience in Canada, you won’t be able to get enough points.”<\/p>\n
He noted\u00a0a growing number of Americans are turning to humanitarian and compassionate applications, though their chances of success are slim.<\/p>\n
“It’s not the Vietnam War anymore, and we no longer welcome draft dodgers. It’s the same for transgender people. The door is closed.”<\/p>\n
‘A recovering American’![\"Originally](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rev-rob-apgar-taylor.jpg\")
Originally from New York state, Apgar-Taylor likes to tell parishioners at Riverside United Church in London that he’s ‘a recovering American.’ (Prasanjeet Choudhury\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Despite the obstacles, Apgar-Taylor,\u00a0Rob\u00a0and\u00a0Lawrence\u00a0remain hopeful of their future in Canada.<\/p>\n
“My name is Rob, and I’m a recovering American,” is how Apgar-Taylor\u00a0sometimes likes to open his sermons.<\/p>\n
In the basement of their home, the reverend and his husband contemplate the photos of their children and grandchildren in a family tree painted on the wall.<\/p>\n
“We miss them every day,” said Robert.<\/p>\n
Both feel that returning to the United States\u00a0\u00a0is not an option for them.<\/p>\n
![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rob.jpg\")
Apgar-Taylor and his partner Rob, left to right, say they’re holding off buying a house in Canada because, not being citizens, they’d have to pay a 25 per cent\u00a0foreign buyers’ tax in Ontario. (Prasanjeet Choudhury\/CBC)<\/p>\n
The year Apgar-Taylor\u00a0and Rob moved to London, two of their friends were assaulted back home in separate attacks because of their sexual and gender identities.<\/p>\n
“You don’t realize how much you’re holding your breath until you don’t have to hold it anymore. That’s how it feels to be in Canada,” said\u00a0Apgar-Taylor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robert Apgar-Taylor vividly remembers the day he and his husband, Robert Taylor, crossed the border into Canada, fleeing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-354625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115050845629707745","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/robert-apgar-taylor.jpg\")
Apgar-Taylor, left, and his husband,\u00a0Robert Taylor, arrived at the Canadian border in December 2022. ‘We were so excited,’ says Apgar-Taylor. (Submitted by Robert Apgar-Taylor)<\/p>\n![\"Uncomfortable](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/joshua-lawrence.jpg\")
Uncomfortable with the changing political climate in his home state of Texas, Lawrence now serves at First-St. Andrew’s United Church in London. (Prasanjeet Choudhury\/CBC)<\/p>\n