08) GTA RAIDS TARGET IMMIGRANT WORKERS

 

From No One Is Illegal

 

            More than 50 people were arrested on their way to work in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) during the week of August 11-15. The undocumented workers were ambushed by armed officers in a series of early morning sweeps. They face separation from their families, indefinite detention, and deportation.

 

            "This is an outrage," insists Syed Hussan, organizer with No One Is Illegal-Toronto, a migrant justice advocacy group. "Why is immigration enforcement stopping people from going to work and tearing them away from their families? This is about spreading fear and forcing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable undocumented people to work deeper in the shadows just to be able to eat."

 

            Geraldine Ortiz, a family member of one man picked up in an August 14 raid adds, "My brother‑in‑law was waiting to get his papers in order. Now he's in detention. We are hopeful that he will get out, but so many families are frightened right now. While visiting him at the detention centre, I saw a small girl speaking on the phone to her father through the glass. They were both crying. This is just so wrong. Why don't we give people immigration status?"

 

            Over several days, immigration enforcement officers, along with Toronto Police, some in Ministry of Transportation vans, pulled over undocumented day‑laborers on their way to work under the guise of a traffic stop. Everyone in the car was coerced into giving up their IDs and many were detained at the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre at 385 Rexdale. The raids occurred in the Jane‑Wilson, Keele‑Wilson and Weston‑401 areas.

 

            "It's clear that these raids are relying on racial profiling to make these immigration related arrests. As such the legality of the raids is extremely questionable. CBSA officers need to stop breaking the law and find something useful to do rather than terrorizing migrant communities of colour," adds immigration consultant Macdonald Scott. "The involvement of Toronto police should be condemned, this goes against the spirit of Toronto's Sanctuary City policy. City Council has promised that undocumented people should feel safe in Toronto, instead they are being raided on the way to work."

 

            In a legal opinion released in July, the United Nations stated that Canada's system of indefinite detention is in violation of international laws and conventions. The UN found that Canada's system is arbitrary, unfair, and lacks a clear limit on the length of detention, leading some people to be detained for over 10 years without charge. Since the current federal government came to power, over 85,000 migrants have been detained without charge or trial.

 

            Suzanne Narain of the Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP) adds, "Our communities are being targeted for being poor, and for the colour of our skin. We see too many cops, and not enough services. Without decent jobs, people are forced to work in these dangerous jobs as day labourers, just to put food on the table. Immigration enforcement and Toronto Police should be ashamed of themselves for tearing people away from their families."

 

(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)