The Carney government’s Bill C-2, a serious attack on migrants’ rights, is not even in force yet, and already deportations are speeding up in Canada. This is what a migrant aid worker observed in an interview.
“There have always been deportations, but they seem to be increasing, and they’re happening more quickly,” explains Annie (not her real name).
The Border Services Agency (CBSA) recently set itself the dystopian target of increasing deportations by 25% to 20,000. To achieve this, its agents are resorting to all sorts of manoeuvres that seriously undermine the right to asylum.
Most of the people deported in the last period were asylum seekers whose claims had been rejected. Theoretically, there is a way to appeal such a decision in Canada: Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA), which can be requested one year after the asylum refusal.
But Annie points out: “Now CBSA officers are trying to get the deportation order before people have time to apply for a PRRA.
This is not the only manoeuvre used by the CBSA:
“Before, when someone was summoned for deportation, their work permit was valid until the day they left. Now, the day you’re summoned, they tell you straight away that they’re going to cancel your work permit on the spot.”
It becomes extremely difficult to apply for an appeal under these conditions. “It’s all about getting people to leave,” says Annie bluntly.
Another manoeuvre: according to a lawyer Annie spoke to, it’s more difficult to deport a family during the school year, as removing children from their school is considered a significant hardship. The border services’ solution? Speed up the deportation of families this summer. This was shown by the recent cases of the Maribel family and the Chen family. In the latter case, the zeal of border officials means that the children are likely to be separated from one of their parents.
“It’s as if they’re trying to find ways for people to leave,” says Annie.
Canada has a reputation for welcoming refugees. But these stories reveal the reality of Canada’s immigration system: executive decisions taken by unelected border services officers de facto undermine the right to asylum in a major way.
This war on migrants will continue in the coming period. It is part of the Carney government’s strategy to please Trump. At a deeper level, this anti-immigrant obsession comes from somewhere: in the context of the deepening crisis of capitalism, scapegoats are needed to divert the attention of the rich who govern us. The fight to defend migrants will therefore go hand in hand with the fight to overthrow their system.
– Simon B., Montreal
