The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
La Presse – Sans-abris: les républicains favorables à une régularisation massive
Une régularisation sous conditions strictes pour les millions de sans-papiers vivant aux États-Unis a été proposée jeudi par les républicains de la Chambre des représentants, une inflexion historique pour le parti conservateur, longtemps opposé à toute régularisation massive. La réforme des règles de l’immigration, considérées comme obsolètes, est une priorité du président démocrate Barack Obama. Mais les appels à la réforme étaient restés jusque là lettre morte dans le camp conservateur.
Radio Canada International – Ottawa défend sa réforme des soins aux réfugiés en cour
Des avocats du gouvernement fédéral ont défendu à leur tour la réforme controversée des soins de santé pour les demandeurs d’asile devant les tribunaux jeudi. Des associations de médecins et d’avocats qui travaillent auprès des réfugiés au pays contestent la décision des conservateurs d’avoir considérablement réduit leur couverture médicale en juin 2012. L’Association Médecins canadiens pour les soins aux réfugiés et l’Association canadienne des avocats en droit des réfugiés allèguent que la décision d’Ottawa de réformer le programme fédéral de santé intérimaire est inconstitutionnelle et qu’elle viole la Charte des droits et libertés.
Le Devoir – Des réfugiés perdus sur les bancs d’école
Des professeurs dressent un portrait désolant de l’enseignement donné aux jeunes allophones dans les écoles de la capitale. « La triste réalité, c’est que ces élèves-là ont un grand potentiel, mais on les laisse à eux-mêmes. C’est triste », explique Denise (nom fictif), une enseignante en francisation. Denise travaille à la Commission scolaire de la Capitale (CSC) où se trouve la majorité des jeunes allophones et réfugiés de Québec. Cela représente 652 élèves du primaire et du secondaire, dont plus du tiers provient des camps de réfugiés du Népal. Les autres proviennent surtout de l’Afrique et d’Amérique du Sud.
Latin Post – Vice President Joe Biden’s Undocumented Immigrant Family
Vice President Joe Biden recently exposed the breadth of the immigration issue; dispelling the notions undocumented immigration is simply a Mexican/Hispanic issue; that all American citizens are descendants of legal immigrants; that undocumented populations are here to rashly absorb resources. While discussing immigration, an individual mentioned that their family legally emigrated from Ireland in the 19th century, and Biden countered, explaining that his family did not. […]While Latinos are the largest faction of the undocumented immigrants, their individual stories of wanting to escape dire circumstances, in order to fundamentally improve their lives, align them with every other citizen-hopeful. […] “My great-great grandparents came escaping the famine and they didn’t all come here legally,” Biden said, according to Politico. “They didn’t all come legally. And the existence of the system isn’t all truncated like it is now. I’d check your ancestry to make sure that they did come legally if that’s a concern to you.”
PR Web – New Canadian Immigration Forms Barcodes Incorporated into INSZoom Technology
Citizenship and Immigration Canada continues to introduce new technologies to streamline the processing of immigration cases. Introduction of barcodes in many of the widely used forms is an important step in that direction. INSZoom.com, Inc., the world’s leading immigration technology company, has updated its system and provides these forms with the barcode functionality. When a user enters data on the form, the barcodes reflects this data. On submitting the forms to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, these barcodes are scanned and the data uploaded into their systems.
Toronto Star – Mexican Woman’s Death Prompts Calls for Civilian Oversight of Border Agency
Refugee advocates are calling for civilian oversight of the Canada Border Services Agency after a Mexican woman who had been working in a hotel died in hospital following her detention in the immigration holding centre at Vancouver airport. […] Her death was not made public until this week. It has triggered a firestorm of criticism over the lack of accountability of the border agency, with many advocates calling for the establishment of an independent civilian oversight mechanism. […] What also concerns these groups is that “there has been no public explanation from the CBSA for what happened; whether anything could have been done to prevent the death and what steps are being taken now to determine whether there was any failing on the part of CBSA officials who were responsible for her care while she was in custody.”
