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.
Colorlines – Immigrants Put More into [U.S.] Medicare Than They Use
Conservative arguments against immigration reform took another blow yesterday with the release of a new study about immigrant contributions to the federal safety net. According to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs, immigrant communities contribute billions more to the Medicare Trust Fund than they use. And since the opposite is true of the U.S. born, immigrants are paying for everyone’s grandmother’s healthcare. According to the data, this will remain true for decades to come.
A team of Hamilton doctors and nurses donating health care to new immigrants is expanding to a second location. The Refuge Centre for Hamilton Newcomer Health, funded primarily through contributions from local doctors and nurse practitioners, has opened a second clinic in the Perkins Centre at Kenilworth Avenue North and Main Street East. […] It has also partnered with McMaster University’s School of Nursing, and third-year student nurses will do placements there. It’s good news for a clinic funded primarily through the billing fees of the specialists, physicians and nurses who work there.
Vancouver Sun – New Federal Rules Dramatically Cut Number of Refugee Claimants
Six months after legislative reforms were made to Canada’s refugee system, the number of people applying for refugee status is down approximately 70 per cent, and advocates fear the changes amount to a crackdown on refugees. […] Speaking at a consultation conference on Thursday being hosted in Vancouver by the Canadian Council for Refugees, council president Loly Rico said Canada last year accepted the lowest number of refugees in 14 years. […] Between January and April of this year, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada received 694 new claims under the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, of which 548 are currently being decided, 69 were abandoned, and 77 withdrawn.
London Free Press – The Ballesteros Family, Who Fled Colombia and Settled in London, Have Been Denied Refugee Status
They’ve been Londoners since 2009. And all 17 Ballesteros family members have done their part — adults working and paying taxes, children going to school and making plans for graduations and futures here. None of it matters now. What matters, according to Canadian immigration rules, is that no one in the three-generation Ballesteros family qualifies as a refugee. It’s been too long since they were threatened by guerrillas in Colombia, so they must return, say officials who denied the family’s refugee claim. The question is, at what cost the deportation? Not just to the family, but to Canada. To London, a city statistics show isn’t hanging onto its immigrants, but which needs them to thrive.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada News Release – Making Canada’s Asylum System Faster and Fairer: Additional Designated Countries of Origin
The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, announced today that the list of Designated Countries of Origin (DCOs) is expanding to include Chile and South Korea. […] As part of the improvements to Canada’s new asylum system that came into effect on December 15, 2012, the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Actincluded the authority to designate countries of origin. DCOs are democratic countries that offer state protection, have active human rights and civil society organizations, and do not normally produce refugees.
Le Matin – Des religieuses traversent les USA pour les immigrés
Un an après une première tournée très remarquée, des religieuses catholiques américaines ont entamé la traversée des États-Unis dans un énorme car, pour plaider en faveur d’une réforme des lois sur l’immigration. Les religieuses du groupe «Network» avaient choisi symboliquement de partir de Jersey City, face à Manhattan, avec en arrière-plan la statue de la Liberté et Ellis Island, par laquelle ont transité au XIXe et XXe siècles plus de 8 millions d’immigrants. « Notre système d’immigration ne fonctionne plus, et nous pouvons faire quelque chose », a expliqué à l’AFP soeur Simone Campbell, qui l’an dernier avait déjà embarqué plusieurs religieuses dans une tournée à travers les États-Unis, pour dénoncer les coupes budgétaires frappant les plus pauvres.
