bloemen: Speedskater Ted-Jan Bloemen's gold was part of a banner day for Canada's Olympians, according to National Observer. The luge relay team of Alex Gough, Sam Edney, Tristan Walker and Justin Snith won silver. After settling for silver in the men's 5,000 metres, Bloemen had lamented that he didn't have more in the tank to challenge Kramer for gold. Pairs figure skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford took bronze. Skating with confidence and consistency in the second-last pair, Bloemen laid down a time of twelve minutes, 39.11 seconds. His tank was full of high-grade octane on Thursday, as Bloemen dominated the competition in the men's 10,000 metres and won the gold medal in an Olympic-record time. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

espionage saga: The Supreme Court will announce in coming weeks whether it's going to hear the case, though no date has been set for the decision, according to National Observer. The government is appealing a ruling that returned Canadian citizenship to Vavilov after it was revoked by Ottawa. They're asking the Supreme Court of Canada to dismiss the government's application for a hearing of the legal issues at the heart of the strange espionage saga that has left Alexander Vavilov, 23, in limbo. ; Accepting the federal position would result in uncertainty about an individual's fundamental right to citizenship, Vavilov's counsel say in a brief filed with the high court. Vavilov, 23, was born in 1994 as Alexander Philip Anthony Foley to Donald Heathfield and Tracey Ann Foley. The FBI turned up at the family's Boston-area home eight years ago. The following year the family including an older boy, Timothy left Canada for France, where they spent four years before moving to the United States. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

applications: Processing times are 12 months for those who filed an application prior to December 2016, while applications after that date take about 26 months, according to CTV. The Liberals had made family reunification programs an immigration priority upon coming to office in 2015 and have been gradually increasing the number of newcomers admitted in those programs since. Hussen says the backlog of applications now sits at 15,000, down from 75,000 in 2016. In 2018, admissions are projected to hit about 66,000. Hussen says the government understands how important it is to reunite couples and it also makes for a stronger country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

daca applications: The Trump administration should be able to alter the policies and priorities set by its predecessor, Garaufis said, according to CTV. He said his order does not require the government to grant any particular DACA applications or renewal requests. U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in Brooklyn said in a written order that the Republican president indisputably has the power to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program but relied on flawed legal positions in doing so. The ruling came in lawsuits brought by immigration rights groups and 15 states and the District of Columbia. DACA was implemented unilaterally after Congress declined to extend these benefits to this same group of illegal aliens, he said. Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley said the order doesn't change the government's position that DACA was an unlawful circumvention of Congress. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

dutch: The Dutch government announced that Lubbers died in Rotterdam surrounded by his wife and children, according to CTV. No cause of death was given. He was 78. Prime Minister Mark Rutte hailed Lubbers, who led the Dutch government from 1982 to 1994, as a statesman who dragged the Netherlands through tough economic times. Lubbers' conservative economic policies were in step with his counterparts in Washington and London during the 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. With his broad knowledge and experience and his tireless creativity, he knew how to find a solution for every problem, Rutte said on Facebook. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

emergency request: On Feb. 15, a Federal Court will hear an emergency request to temporarily stop Abdi's deportation, according to Toronto Star. The broad strokes of Abdi's story are these. Yet it has ballooned into a needless battle exposing federal and provincial indifference to non-citizen children. Instability was the only constant in the life of this man, born 24 years ago in Saudi Arabia to a Saudi father and Somali mother. Article Continued Below At age 8, child protective services scooped him and his sister out of their aunt's home for reasons unknown. He lived for four years at a refugee camp in Djibouti and then at age 6 landed in Canada along with his sister and aunts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

florida trips: The travel advisory issued by 15 groups warns immigrants from other states to reconsider Florida trips or to be ready to encounter immigration agents at airports, sea ports and bus stations, according to Metro News. We are taking the step of warning our communities that as the Florida lawmakers, state, local and federal do not take steps to push back against the anti-immigrant policies, we do not feel like our communities are safe in the state, said Tomas Kennedy, deputy political director at the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Leaders from immigrant rights and non-profit organizations said new co-operation between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 17 Florida sheriffs is also spreading fear in the state. The advisory comes as Florida braces for its busy spring break season in March, when its beach resorts and theme parks attract millions of people. Activists staged several rallies across the state Wednesday, including at Greyhound bus stations where at least two recent Border Patrol arrests of passengers were caught on cellphone videos. The government estimated more than 4 million travellers from Canada and other countries arrived from January to March in 2017, compared with almost 27 million visitors who came from other states. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration applications: According to Hussen, the number of spousal immigration applications in the queue has dropped to 15,000 from 74,900 a year ago, and the average processing time has also been sharply reduced to 12 months from 26 months, according to Toronto Star. The Government of Canada is committed to family reunification. To celebrate Valentine's Day, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen hosted a news conference at a Mississauga dessert shop to update his department's dramatic reduction of the spousal sponsorship backlog. We understand how important it is to reunite couples. Canadians who marry someone from abroad shouldn't have to wait for years to have them immigrate or be left with uncertainty in terms of their ability to stay. It also makes for a stronger Canada, said Hussen. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration officials: Immigration officials also have made a significant dent in what had become a vast backlog of files, bringing it from roughly 75,000 files down to about 15,000 in just over a year, according to CBC. Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen told CBC News it was the humane thing to do. The average wait is now one year in about 80 per cent of cases, down from the previous two-year wait, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. We wanted to make sure families were not unnecessarily kept apart and family reunification is a very key priority for our government, he said in an interview. Foreign spouses hit snags Liberals to scrap policy that rejects sick immigrants Canada to welcome 1 million immigrants over 3 years Hussen said the results were achieved by deploying a tiger team of staff to tackle the backlog, and by simplifying the application process to avoid delays and duplication. And that is why spousal sponsorship was, is and will continue to be a key part of our immigration system. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration proceedings: Prosecutors with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section allege that Sanchez stole the identities of seven people in various stages of immigration proceedings to defraud credit card companies including American Express, Bank of America and Capital One, according to The Chronicle Herald. Neither Sanchez nor his lawyer, Cassandra Stamm, immediately returned emails seeking comment Tuesday. Raphael A. Sanchez, who resigned from the agency effective Monday, faces one count of aggravated identity theft and another of wire fraud in a charging document filed Monday in U.S. District Court. According to court rules, the type of charging document filed in Sanchez's case called an information can be filed only when a defendant has agreed to waive his or her right to be indicted by a grand jury; it's typically an indication that a plea agreement is in the works. The charging document contained few specifics about the allegations, but did give one example It said that in April 2016, Sanchez sent an email from his government account to his Yahoo account that included personal information pertaining to a Chinese national identified only as R.H. The information Sanchez sent included an image of R.H.'s U.S. permanent resident card, the biographical page of R.H.'s Chinese passport and a utility bill in R.H.'s name. The court's calendar showed that Sanchez is due to enter a plea Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

nian gao: This is probably due to the Chinese being the first Asian ethnic group to settle in Canada back in the late 1800s. as labours to build the Canadian Pacific Railway, according to Toronto Star. As one of the largest ethnic groups in the GTA, they make up about 11 per cent of the population or 700,000 people. In Toronto, the celebration has often been referred to interchangeably as Chinese New Year. While Chinese New Year revellers celebrate by eating noodles, steamed fish and glutinous rice cakes called nian gao, other Asian communities that follow the lunisolar calendar are also kicking off New Year festivities with their own feasts this weekend. Read more Article Continued Below Braised veal a romantic Valentine's Day entr eTake a shawarma crawl through Scarborough Flock's salad is packed with veggies, but is it a good option for weight loss react-text 169 Han Trinh, seated left, and husband Ngoc Tuy Nguyen, with the feast. From Tibetan rice beer to Vietnamese head cheese to South Korean rice cake soup, here's a taste of the dishes three families in the GTA are cooking up for Lunar New Year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

rekha sharma-crawford: An attorney for a man living in Kansas who is fighting deportation to Bangladesh says his family and supporters are encouraged that he was returned to Missouri but his ultimate fate is still completely up to federal immigration officials, according to Metro News. Syed Ahmed Jamal, of Lawrence, was housed in the Platte County jail after arriving in Kansas City about 2 30 p.m. The Latest on a Kansas father fighting efforts by the U.S. to deport him to Bangladesh all times local 5 45 p.m. Wednesday. His attorney, Rekha Sharma-Crawford, said during a news conference at the jail that immigration officials could agree to allow Jamal to return to Lawrence under orders of supervision until the case is decided, which could take months. He was taken off a plane in Hawaii and sent back after a federal immigration board approved a stay as he battles to remain in the U.S., where he's lived for 30 years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

source source: Processing times are 12 months for those who filed an application prior to December 2016, while applications after that date take about 26 months, according to The Chronicle Herald. The Liberals had made family reunification programs an immigration priority upon coming to office in 2015 and have been gradually increasing the number of newcomers admitted in those programs since. Hussen says the backlog of applications now sits at 15,000, down from 75,000 in 2016. In 2018, admissions are projected to hit about 66,000. Source Source The Canadian Press Correction Correction Note to readers This is a corrected story. Hussen says the government understands how important it is to reunite couples and it also makes for a stronger country. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

syrian refugees: The project stemmed from a desire to make the students feel welcome and to ease their transition to Regina life, according to CBC. We are part of this community' Syrian refugee hosts Regina radio program in Arabic I used to worry about my life every day,' Syrian students share their stories for Remembrance Day The looks on the faces of some of the parents recognizing that, for once, there's a place where they're wanted, that they can call home it's priceless, Perry said on Tuesday. The Regina George Lee Backpack Project started two years ago in response to Syrian refugees coming to the city, says Jeff Perry, the president of the Regina Public Schools Teachers' Association. Jeff Perry said he thinks the backpack project is fantastic as it showcases students helping students. There were about 350 backpacks handed out in the first year. Dan Plaster/CBC The project saw students from Campbell Collegiate prepare backpacks full of supplies for Syrian students to help them get started with school right away, Perry said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

man shot: The only people who spent more time in those courts were the court staff, RCMP, security, judges and lawyers.article continues below Trending Stories Vancouver police investigating after man shot on Vancouver's West SideB.C. Green Party's Andrew Weaver loses defamation lawsuit Michelle Obama on social media think twice or by committee before you tweet Want work/life balance Schedule it, says Michelle Obamarelated First Nations groups decry Colten Boushie murder trial verdictI followed the case intensely via Twitter, following numerous reputable journalists who were rigorously live-tweeting the case, according to Vancouver Courier. None seemed to get everything, but by following enough of them and seeing the concurrence between what they put out, it was the closest coverage I have ever seen of a case without actually sitting on those hard wooden pews in Battleford Court of Queen's Bench. 22-year-old Colten Boushie was shot and killed on a farm in Saskatchewan in August 2016. - Facebook A distraught Debbie Baptiste, the mother of Colten Boushie, leaves the North Battleford courthouse after hearing the not-guilty verdict Friday night. - Averil Hall In following the commentary and news coverage afterwards, it has become apparent that several myths have arisen on both sides of the affair, and some things that should be considered. First off, let me start by saying I covered the North Battleford Provincial Court and Battleford Court of Queen's Bench from 2004-2008 for the Battlefords News-Optimist, averaging one to three days in any given week. Let's begin by noting the chief justice of Saskatchewan's Court of Queens Bench chose to assign himself as the judge for this case. If anyone should be expected to ensure a fair trial, one would think it would be the chief justice of province. That's right from the top. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

african-american official: As a young, black player, all Alphonso had to do was watch Hockey Night in Canada or the Stanley Cup Final and he saw fellow minority Jay Sharrers working as a linesman, according to The Chronicle Herald. To be able to see someone who kind of looked like me working at the biggest stage of his job, it was unreal, Alphonso said. He didn't have to look far to see it was possible. The 34-year-old Alphonso is the NHL's only African-American official, and Calgary Flames assistant Paul Jerrard is the league's only black coach. I think it's an evolutionary process, said Sharrers, who recently retired. With the sport's expansion to some nontraditional markets across the United States, there are almost two dozen black players in the NHL, but Sharrers, Alphonso and Jerrard serve as inspiration for more to follow into positions of authority. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

bourbon: There was even ribbing when the Democrat presented McConnell with a bottle of bourbon made in his home New York City borough of Brooklyn, according to CBC. McConnell, whose state knows a thing or two about bourbon, proclaimed, There's no such thing as Brooklyn bourbon. We really do get along, despite what you read in the press, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Monday at a previously scheduled appearance alongside his counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, at the University of Louisville. Dreamers' fret about their future as U.S. Congress debates their fate Mexico wall likely to rise again in immigration talks But just days after the two leaders brokered a bipartisan 400 billion US budget agreement and helped shepherd it into law, both men made clear that an immigration agreement will be tough. He said while Democrats have called for swift action on immigration, Now's the time to back up the talk with the hard work of finding a solution. The time for political posturing is behind us, McConnell said later Monday on the Senate floor. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

charter rights: But if you are refugee claimants who are working, have a child born in Canada and have a real need for the money, you are still not eligible, according to Toronto Star. Take a vote Go is currently representing six clients who are challenging the Canada Revenue Agency CRA over the differential treatment, which they argue violates their charter rights based on immigration status. The irony is we are allowing other temporary residents in Canada to claim this benefit as long as they have lived here for 18 months even if they may not need the money, said Avvy Go, director of the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic in Toronto. Article Continued Below The legal clinic is working with other clinics and community groups to intervene in other such cases. Their children miss out on this critical poverty reducing program. It is unfair that Canadian-born children do not have access to the child benefit program because of the precarious status of their parents, said Debbie Douglas of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

direction: Maybe you even got as far as dragging them out of the cupboards where they've been hidden for years, according to The Chronicle Herald. Now they're on the dining room table and all of a sudden you become overwhelmed. You want to put them in books and pass them down to the kids. Instead of putting them all back in their hiding places, Melissa Fillmore can take you in the right direction. Or, she can actually do it for you. She's the young entrepreneur behind Past to Present Photos and helps people organize all those memories. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

curated glimpse: Light flickers, according to The Chronicle Herald. This is The Flow, an art installation by New Delhi-based artist Subba Ghosh, a work inspired by the world's ongoing refugee crisis, and the millions of people driven from their homes by conflict and poverty. The sound of crashing waves fills your ears. Human displacement, the suffering of refugees and the notion of identity dominated the 2018 India Art Fair, an important platform for contemporary artists that provides a carefully curated glimpse into the South Asian art scene through the years. Paintings, experimental photographs, abstract expressionist art and mixed-media projects pushed the boundaries of form, filling a sprawling fair grounds in the heart of the Indian capital. The themes are universal, the artistic expressions deeply personal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

dreamer immigrants: He writes This will be our last chance, there will never be another opportunity! March 5th, according to Toronto Star. Trump was referring to a deadline after which he has said a program protecting young immigrants from deportation would end. In a tweet Tuesday, Trump asserts that Democrats and Republicans must act now to provide legal protections to young Dreamer immigrants in the U.S. illegally. In fact, a recent court ruling has rendered that deadline meaningless. In addition to protections for Dreamers, Trump also wants 25 billion U.S. for a border wall with Mexico and other security measures, as well as curbs on legal immigration. The Senate's Republican and Democratic leaders say it's going to be tough to broker a successful deal on immigration policy. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

gas station: Her parents were here, according to Toronto Star. Her father Jong Jim Kim, who came to America and worked at a gas station, pointed at himself and said, American dream! She made people's hearts sing. She is 17, Korean-American, the child of first-generation immigrants, tweeting between her fearless, soaring, never-satisfied halfpipe runs at greatness at the Pyeongchang Olympics. And in a spare moment I was reading about Syed A. Jamal, a 55-year-old Bangladesh-born chemistry professor in Lawrence, Kan., who arrived in America legally 30 years ago, overstayed his visa but built a life. Then they warned his crying wife and children, ages 7 to 14, that they could be arrested if they tried to hug him goodbye, and drove off with him. This section stood out Immigration agents handcuffed a beloved chemistry professor as he was leaving his home to drive his daughter to school. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

immigration policies: The charges are similar to a conviction that the jury did return being a felon in possession of a gun leading to a three-year jail sentence, according to Metro News. Garcia Zarate's attorneys, J. Tony Serra and Maria Belyi, argue that the federal charges are politically motivated and are asking for the case to be thrown out. Federal prosecutors charged Jose Ines Garcia Zarate with two counts of illegal gun possession in November after jurors in California court found him not guilty of killing Kate Steinle in 2015. Short of dismissal, they say the two federal charges should be combined into one. President Donald Trump and others in his administration have repeatedly pointed to Steinle's death as a reason for toughening the country's immigration policies. Garcia Zarate acknowledged holding the gun that killed Steinle but said it fired accidentally when he found it wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench on a popular San Francisco pier, where she was walking with her father. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

march deadline: The headlines about immigration make people feel like they're really in the spotlight, according to Metro News. Kids are more afraid for their families than they are for themselves, said Jane Slater, a teacher at Sequoia High School in Redwood City who advises a club for students who are in the country without legal permission. College counsellors say the decline reflects increasing distrust of government among immigrant families, as well as uncertainty over the status of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program better known as DACA, the newspaper said. With the March 1 deadline approaching, 19,141 students had applied for aid under the California Dream Act as of Monday, a number that's just over half of last year's total. This year's decline follows a dip that occurred last year until state officials launched a campaign and ended up with a total of 36,127 applications. Available aid for qualifying students includes private scholarships funded through public universities, state administered financial aid, university grants, community college fee waivers and Cal Grants. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

mattis: Some governments have expressed little interest in having such militants returned, according to CBC. Alleged ISIS operative 'Jihadi Jack' begs Canada to let him come here We're gathering up hundreds of detainees, Mattis told reporters traveling with him. Doing nothing is not an option, Mattis said following a conference of defence ministers in Rome that discussed the issue without resolving it. The important thing is that the countries of origin keep responsibility for them. But the bottom line is, we don't want them going back on the street. How they carry out that responsibility, there's a dozen diplomatic, legal or whatever ways. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

renewal requests: He said his order does not require the government to grant any particular DACA applications or renewal requests, according to Metro News. The ruling came in lawsuits brought by immigration rights groups and 15 states and the District of Columbia. The Trump administration should be able to alter the policies and priorities set by its predecessor, Garaufis said. Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley said the order doesn't change the government's position that DACA was an unlawful circumvention of Congress. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said then-President Barack Obama's decision to implement DACA was an unconstitutional exercise of authority. DACA was implemented unilaterally after Congress declined to extend these benefits to this same group of illegal aliens, he said.O'Malley added that the Department of Homeland Security acted within its lawful authority in deciding to wind down DACA in an orderly manner and looked forward to vindicating its position in future litigation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.