Migrants and Their Allies Expose and Condemn Surge in Deportations
On December 7, during a virtual press conference, the Migrant Rights Network (MRN), a national network of 40 organizations fighting for migrant rights and justice, sounded the alarm over the steep increase in deportations taking place in Canada which "are tearing families apart." They report that data acquired through access to information show that 7,032 people were deported in just the first half of 2023, nearly double the deportations in either 2021 or 2022.
During the press conference, deported undocumented migrants and those facing deportation, along with family members of deportees, spoke of the terrible consequences of deportations. An average of 39 people, they said, were deported every day in the first half of 2023, compared with 23 in 2022 and 21 in 2021 (Canada placed a moratorium on deportations in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, which was lifted in November 2021).
"Many of these people could have avoided the horrendous experience of deportation if the government had moved on its 2021 promise to regularize undocumented people," Mary Gellatly, a community legal worker at Parkdale Community Legal Services, pointed out.
The Prime Minister "now oversees 39 deportations a day ... at a cost of nearly 50 million dollars a year -- it's unfair and absurd to rip families apart," said the MRN's Syed Hussan. "We need an end to deportations and full and permanent immigration status for all," said Hussan.
That same day and unrelated to the conference, and responding to the media about an expanded regularization program, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he's "committed to addressing the issue [of a regularization program] in the months ahead." "The promise remains," he said. "I think that Canada needs to move forward with a path to regular migration and it's something that I've committed to take in front of cabinet in the spring. But it isn't a foregone conclusion and it is not one that comes without costs or without considerations of other factors."
Canada Border Services Agency, the MRN reports, receives at least $46 million per year for deportations, "which averages out to $4,750 to deport one person. In contrast, providing settlement and integration services for a permanent resident costs a lot less, approximately $3,900."
The MRN added, "Migrants follow all the rules, but simply can't get their rights. Most low-wage migrant workers and students have no access to permanent residency; over 40 per cent of refugee claimants are denied. As a result, most migrants have to choose between leaving behind their friends, their jobs and their communities in Canada and potentially being forced to move to a country where they may face risk or live in Canada undocumented, exploited and in daily fear of deportation."
Rajan Gupta, one of the deportees, was removed from the country and returned to India on November 11, 2023. "I can't go back to my house due to life threats. I am living at an undisclosed place away from my city to save my life along with my sister. I have spent four years of my life working in Canada. Now in India, I have no money or income source and also unable to work outside due to life risks," he said.
Nineteen-year-old Tareq Abuznaid, who has been in Canada for eight years and as of December 7 was still facing deportation to the West Bank, Palestine, said: "It feels horrible and it's honestly heartbreaking that Canada wants to deport me back to a country that is being the victim of an active genocide. Israel doesn't recognize me as a citizen, and doesn't even want me on "their land." It's so disgusting and shameful that after all we've been through, and after all we've given, Canada is just willing to throw me and my family out into a death sentence. And I know we're not the only victims of this."
The Prime Minister and his coterie always choose their words ever so carefully. On October 24, as Israeli aggression and crimes continued in occupied Palestine, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that Palestinians would not be sent back to Gaza if their visas expired. With 20,000 plus killed already, how is it that as of December 7, Tareq was still facing deportation to the West Bank, with Israel's deadly raids there? Canada's travel advisory for Gaza and the West Bank, last updated December 11, says only that for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip "AVOID NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL."
The MRN also notes that Canada is deporting individuals "who would likely obtain permanent resident status once a regularization program is established," one that "would be accompanied by a moratorium on deportations." It also informs that the network, "along with almost all civil society, labour and environmental organizations have called for immediate implementation of a comprehensive regularization program, through which most undocumented people would get permanent resident status."
Exposing the fact that there is no credible reason why Canada would not implement a regularization program, the Network gave examples of such programs in other countries. "Between 1996 and 2008," it informs, "24 of the 27 EU Member States implemented regularization programs, and some several times. An estimated 5.5 to 6 million people were regularized in that time. The largest programs were the Italian 2002 program that regularized 634,000 people and the Spanish 2005 program that regularized 578,375 people. In 2021, Ireland regularized most undocumented people in the country who met a basic residency requirement."
This article was published in
Volume 53
Number 32 - December 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53323.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca