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.
No Release On Bail For Detainees, Toews Says
The release on bail of a violent fugitive who was included on a “most wanted” list has the federal public safety minister thinking about changing the law. Walter Ernesto Guzman of El Salvador was ordered released last week on $3,000 cash bond after appearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board. Guzman, who was in the country illegally after being convicted of drug trafficking, assault and other serious offences, surrendered to Montreal police Aug. 19. Vic Toews says the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is geared too much toward releasing people who are to be deported, putting the onus on government to prove that those in custody are a danger to the public, a flight risk or both.
Prospective immigrants, visitors to Canada and newcomers here are making good use of a new interactive Web tool launched recently by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The Come to Canada Wizard, which helps people determine if they are eligible to come to Canada, has recorded over 100,000 visits in its first three weeks of operation. The majority of the people using it – approximately 80% – are doing so from outside Canada. “This tool makes it easier for potential immigrants and visitors to understand the immigration process,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. “At this rate, we can expect more than a million users to benefit from the website by this time next year.”
Europe is currently missing out on a huge number of visitors due to poor visa processing. It makes many people feel as if they are terror suspects before even leaving their own country. When Indians have to travel hundreds of miles for interviews, Chinese people can’t fill in a UK visa form in their own language and one national embassy can process precisely 90 visas a day in Indonesia, a country of 240 million, you know something is wrong. An Eota survey last year asked how many people cancelled, postponed or simply gave up due to the process. It showed that the Schengen area is missing out on close to a projected €500m of tourism revenue. David Cameron said he wanted to see the UK rise up the ranks in terms of Chinese tourism. But when 30% of clients are cancelling, he may be fighting a losing battle.
How can President Obama continue to portray himself as the champion of immigration reform to Latino voters, while at the same time deporting more people than any other president in United States history? Two significant announcements this month offer a glimpse into an administration that appears to be playing both sides of a bitter debate over immigration reform. The first occurred on 5 August, when the Obama Administration announced that it would unilaterally impose its controversial deportation programme known as “secure communities” (also known as S-Comm) upon every city in the United States by 2013. The announcement stunned the immigrant justice community, which had spent the last year rallying against policies in Arizona that demonstrated to the world the dangers of using the local criminal justice system to engage in federal immigration law enforcement.
CIC Launches Online Consultation On Immigration Levels And Mix
Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney today launched online consultations on the appropriate level of immigration and the most suitable mix between economic, family class and protected persons. Immigration has been a sustaining feature of Canada’s history and continues to play an important role in building our country. Canada has one of the highest per capita rates of permanent immigration in the world—roughly 0.8% in recent years—and has welcomed 3.5 million immigrants in the last 15 years. “The online consultation provides an important opportunity to gather input from stakeholders and the public on key questions facing CIC,” said Minister Kenney. “This is also a chance to highlight some of the considerations and difficult choices involved in managing a global immigration system.”
Citizenship Critic Kevin Lamoreux Supports Lost Canadians Cause
“The Liberal Party will change this — I’ll attempt to get Minister Jason Kenney to talk about the (Lost Canadians) problem,” said Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, hearing about the struggle of the “Lost Canadians”, people born to a Canadian parent who were stripped of citizenship due to archaic citizenship laws. “If there’s even one Lost Canadian, that’s one person too many,” he said. The Deputy House Leader and Critic for Citizenship and Immigration was in Vancouver at the Canadian Legion on Commercial Drive to meet and greet constituents. He listened intently to the story of Jackie Scott, the daughter of a Canadian war veteran who grew up all her life in the country and learned that she had been excluded from citizenship because her parents were unmarried at the time of her birth.
