immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

rohingya people: There was the warning this week from the United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, that Burma's military appears to have committed acts of genocide against the Rohingya people, according to Toronto Star. There was the warning last weekend in The New York Times from journalist Nicholas Kristof, who has just visited the country. But like the endless Syrian civil war, this is a deepening crisis of historic proportions to which much of the world now seems largely indifferent in spite of the warnings. I saw a genocide in slow motion, was the headline, as the military continues to kill its Rohingya by denying them health care and food. Article Continued Below In the past six months, more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Buddhist-majority Burma also known as Myanmar for Bangladesh to avoid what the UN describes as a classic case of ethnic cleansing by the Burmese military including the burning of villages and raping of women. And there was the warning last month from Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2003, that Aung San Suu Kyi, also a Nobel laureate and Burma's discredited de facto leader, must be held personally responsible for genocide of Rohingyas under her watch. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

enforcement work: He said he agrees with much of the criticism from the left even though it caught him off guard and had expected most of the backlash to come from the right, according to The Chronicle Herald. Cantu told his detractors on Twitter To be clear during my years as a BP agent, I was complicit in perpetuating institutional violence and flawed, deadly policy. Now 32, he says he didn't expect his new memoir examining some of the agency's uglier aspects would spark protests by far-left groups denouncing him for the enforcement work and forcing him to cancel some talks promoting The Line Becomes a River Dispatches from the Border. My book is about acknowledging that, it's about thinking through the ways we normalize violence and dehumanize migrants as individuals and as a society. Writing the book was a way to come to terms with what I had participated in, a job that made me normalize a certain amount of violence, Cantu said. Cantu said he wrote the book to make sense of his time with the patrol. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

perla morales-luna: Attorney Andres Moreno II said Friday that his client, Perla Morales-Luna, was walking down a street in National City with her three daughters last week when agents dramatically pulled her away and drove her off, according to Metro News. Moreno says the single mother emphatically denies the Border Patrol's allegation that she was an organizer of a transnational smuggling network. The Latest on the Border Patrol's arrest of a woman near San Diego that was recorded on video all times local 12 46 p.m.A lawyer for a woman arrested on immigration violations in the San Diego area says he's shocked by video of Border Patrol agents tearing his client away from her crying children. Morales-Luna has not been charged with any smuggling crimes and the Border Patrol has offered no evidence of that. Her children, ages 17, 15 and 12, are staying with family in the San Diego area. 8 15 a.m. The attorney says Morales-Luna came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 15 and he will fight her deportation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

state rep: Dave Williams said he advocated for holding individual cities and their policymakers personally liable during a meeting with the White House Domestic Policy Council, according to The Chronicle Herald. The Colorado Springs Republican says he hopes U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions follows up on the California lawsuit this week with similar legal actions against municipalities. State Rep. These sanctuary communities and politicians are wilfully endangering the public, Williams said ahead of the meeting. Williams said he also called for more immigration agents in Colorado and that White House advisers were receptive to his suggestions. Cities like Denver and states like California are allowing criminal aliens to run loose, to kill, murder, maim or hurt our fellow Americans. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

syrian authorities: An era of flagrant contradictions, according to Rabble. An era of erosion of principles of justice. An era of deep polarization of views. My husband, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen born and raised in Syria, faced a public trial in 2002 while he was the victim of extraordinary rendition initiated by U.S. authorities with the complicity of Canadian law enforcement as well as Jordanian and Syrian authorities, official and de facto allies of the U.S. war on terror. He was transported in the middle of the night to an airport where a private jet, known as a ghost plane, flew him to Amman, Jordan. When my husband was given a paper in his U.S. cell stating that he had been arrested because of his alleged association with Al-Qaeda, he didn't get a lawyer or day in court. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

conversions: Following the victory of India's right-wing BJP Prime Minister Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in May 2014 Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Jains generally are fearful of what the future portends, warns a recent report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, according to Toronto Star. Threats, hate crimes, social boycotts, desecrations of places of worship, assaults, and forced conversions led by radical Hindu nationalist movements have escalated dramatically. In an open letter to Trudeau ahead of his trip, Amnesty International listed several pressing human rights concerns that needed to be raised the continuing absence of justice for the 3,000 victims of the 1984 Sikh massacre; the criminalization of same-sex relationships, and the failure to criminalize marital rape; the use of indiscriminately firing pellet guns that have killed, injured, or blinded hundreds in Kashmir; the threatened expulsion of 40,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing genocide back to Burma; and the severe persecution of minorities. Read more Opinion How Justin Trudeau can recover from his stumbles in India Article Continued Below Opinion Tim Harper On the India fiasco, Trudeau is looking for blame in all the wrong places Opinion Why was Trudeau snubbed on his visit to India Since the election of the BJP, scores of Muslims have been beaten, hanged, burned, or hacked to death by mobs, while Modi most infamous for presiding over the coordinated slaughter of 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, when he was the state's Chief Minister has barely uttered a word of condemnation. react-empty 162 More than 40,000 crimes against Dalits formerly untouchables rapes, home-burnings, murders were reported in 2016, according to the government's own statistics; anti-Dalit violence has skyrocketed over the last four years. Adivasi communities resisting the pillage of their lands and resources have been subjected to rape and extrajudicial killing by security forces. Thousands of Adivasis indigenous people have been violently displaced by mining companies in the building of India's vaunted economy, in some cases with the support of Canadian investors. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

infant daughter: A young man whose femur had torn through his skin in a motorcycle crash needed antibiotics for an infection, according to Toronto Star. An elderly retiree with a swollen foot arrived after taking a 20-hour bus ride from Caracas because doctors there told his family the only treatment they could offer was amputation without anesthesia or antibiotics. An 18-year-old woman rubbed her swollen belly after fleeing with her infant daughter when the wounds from her C-section began to ooze pus. If you want to sign, sign. Read more Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro threatens to ban opposition parties from future elections Article Continued Below Venezuela's creditor meeting is a bust as S&P declares country in default More than 500 killed over 2 years in Venezuelan government anti-crime campaign report As Venezuela's economic crisis worsens, rising numbers are fleeing in a burgeoning refugee crisis that is drawing alarm across Latin America. But we are not responsible for the life of your father, Teresa Tobar, 36, quoted the doctors in Venezuela as telling her when they handed over the papers to authorize her father's surgery. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

jewish-funded mission: Israel's Christian allies now fund about a third of all immigrants moving to the country, according to a tally by The Associated Press, according to The Chronicle Herald. The figures reflect the ever tightening relationship between Israel and its evangelical Christian allies, whom Israel has come to count on for everything from political support to tourism dollars. What was once a strictly Jewish-funded mission is increasingly being bankrolled by evangelical Christians. After 2000 years of oppression and persecution, today you have Christians who are helping Jews, said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a group that raises money from evangelical Christians for Jewish causes. Israel has long depended on diaspora Jewish communities, especially in the United States, for donations and to lobby their local governments on its behalf. This is an amazing thing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

nazar: An angry crowd gathered around Nazar's house around 8 p.m, according to CTV. Wednesday, throwing rocks and shouting, so the family turned off the lights so no one could see inside. In the small town of Pallekele, mobs ignored the curfew that was supposed to keep them off the streets and used gasoline bombs to burn four homes, said Mohamed Nazar. Then a large flame came and the house caught fire, Nazar said. Authorities eventually put out the fire, but much of his family's belongings were destroyed, he said. His father hid under a sofa as the flames took hold, but Nazar grabbed him and they ran out. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

jury trials: He said at this point in time, the team he has assembled is looking at the results of the 1991 Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, according to Rabble. The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry was called in response to two cases the killing of Helen Betty Osborne in 1971 and the killing of Island Lake Tribal Council executive director J.J. Harper in 1988. Maybe moving jury trials into the communities is our answer, as they do in Nunavut, as they do in the Northwest Territories. Peremptory challenges were used in the Osborne case, eliminating six Indigenous people from the jury panel. The inquiry recommended getting rid of peremptory challenges. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

manon monastesse: The first obstacle is even to get to the shelter, said Manon Monastesse, the head of Quebec's Federation of Women's Shelters, which counts 36 establishments across Quebec, according to CBC. We'll make sure we're heard' New Quebec feminist coalition wants improved access to justice A big step forward' Cree women's shelter opens in Waswanipi The Maison d'h bergement l'Aquarelle in Chibougamau one of the only resources available to women in northern Quebec fields calls from women as far away as Whapmagoostui, a Cree village on Hudson Bay accessible only by plane, and a three-hour flight away. Women's shelters across the province say despite recent investments by the provincial government to counter sexual abuse, when it comes to fighting domestic violence, there are still dire needs. I'm not in a position where I can pay for transport, said Marie- ve Guay, the executive director of the shelter whose catchment area covers more than half the province. The Pipiichaau Uchishtuun Women's Shelter in Waswanipi opened its doors in September 2017. Women sometimes turn to their band councils for help, Guay said, but others never make the trip. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

puerto rico: Pixar's box-office smash Coco, the biggest budget studio release to feature a largely Hispanic cast, won best animated feature and best song, according to CTV. Lin-Manuel Miranda reminded viewers of Puerto Rico, rebuilding from Hurricane Maria. Guillermo del Toro became the third Mexican-born filmmaker to win best director, and it was his lavish Cold War fantasy The Shape of Water that was crowned best picture. Lupita Nyong'o advocated for the Dreamers. And Chile's A Fantastic Woman won best foreign language film. Rita Moreno returned, resplendently, in the dress she wore to the Oscars in 1962. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

richmond hill: We are utterly disgusted at the long time it took to process the case, said Jaffer of Richmond Hill, a retired businessman who moved to Canada in the 1990s and is a Canadian citizen, according to Toronto Star. This is completely unfair and unacceptable. The agonizing wait for family reunification finally ended 11 years later, in January, when 80-year-old Nargis Anwar Jaffer died of pneumonia in a hospital back home with the sponsorship application still in process. The department said it could not comment on the case without the deceased person's consent due to privacy concerns.A native of Kenya, the elderly Jaffer moved to the United Kingdom to flee ethnic persecution against South Asians in East Africa. Article Continued Below Shabbir Jaffer, 60, said he submitted his mother's sponsorship application in September 2007, at a time when the Canadian government's immigration website stated the processing would take about 36 months. She had two sons; Jaffer later moved to Greater Toronto. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

time wednesday: An angry crowd gathered around Nazar's house around 8 p.m. local time Wednesday, throwing rocks and shouting, so the family turned off the lights so no one could see inside, according to CBC. Then a large flame came and the house caught fire, Nazar said. In the small town of Pallekele, mobs ignored the curfew that was supposed to keep them off the streets and used gasoline bombs to burn four homes, said Mohamed Nazar. His father hid under a sofa as the flames took hold, but Nazar grabbed him and they ran out. A man walks out of his damaged house after a clash between two communities in Digana. Authorities eventually put out the fire, but much of his family's belongings were destroyed, he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

sense i: Sessions was defiant as he spoke to local law enforcement officials about the lawsuit, citing a series of California laws that he says are unconstitutional and violate common sense, according to CTV. I can't sit by idly while the lawful authority of federal officers are being blocked by legislative acts and politicians, he said, straying from his prepared remarks. Jerry Brown in a fiery exchange of words. Brown didn't hold back in his response, calling Sessions a liar and saying it was unprecedented for the attorney general to act more like Fox News than a law enforcement officer. What Jeff Sessions said is simply not true and I call upon him to apologize to the people of California for bringing the mendacity of Washington to California, the governor told reporters. He accused Sessions of going to war with California to appease President Donald Trump. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

state capitol: As he excoriated California officials for their policies and actions, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned against rewarding people who enter the country illegally, according to Metro News. It's a rejection of law and it creates an open borders system, he told California law enforcement officials in Sacramento on Wednesday, just a few blocks from the state capitol . Open borders is a radical, irrational idea that cannot be accepted. The Trump administration's lawsuit challenging California's efforts to protect immigrants who are in the country illegally served as the latest warning shot at communities nationwide with so-called sanctuary policies. California Gov. Criticism of the lawsuit also came from sanctuary states and cities around the country. Jerry Brown and state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, both Democrats, called Sessions' visit and the lawsuit a political stunt and denied that they want to give immigrants free rein to enter the country illegally. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

state care: The mayor compares public defenders provided to people who cannot afford attorneys in criminal cases to the new representation, funded in part by city taxpayers and in part by New York non-profit Vera Institute of Justice, according to Metro News. City Council President Bernard C. Jack Young says the funding could reduce government costs by keeping families together, preventing abandoned children from entering state care. Mayor Catherine Pugh tells The Baltimore Sun that the move is meant to show the city supports its residents. The funding approved Wednesday is expected to help 40 immigrants with lawyers provided by the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition. Information from The Baltimore Sun, (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trump lawsuit: As he excoriated California officials for their policies and actions, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned against rewarding people who enter the country illegally, according to The Chronicle Herald. It's a rejection of law and it creates an open borders system, he told California law enforcement officials in Sacramento on Wednesday, just a few blocks from the state capitol. The Trump administration's lawsuit challenging California's efforts to protect immigrants who are in the country illegally served as the latest warning shot at communities nationwide with so-called sanctuary policies. Open borders is a radical, irrational idea that cannot be accepted. Jerry Brown and state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, both Democrats, called Sessions' visit and the lawsuit a political stunt and denied that they want to give immigrants free rein to enter the country illegally. California Gov. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

cheng pei-pei: Opens Friday March 9 . See listing, according to NOW Magazine. Rating NNNNMina Shum mines her favourite theme the immigrant experience in Canada in what seems at first to be a gentle slice of life but eventually develops a powerful emotional force. Some subtitles. Maria a radiant Cheng Pei-Pei has been a dutiful housewife to her workaholic husband Tzi Ma but when she learns he's having an affair, everything changes. Her attempt to play detective as a means of finding out more about his sexual adventures creates some intriguing narrative twists. She's determined to engage with the world and find some semblance of independence while contemplating a way to confront him. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

california: Jerry Brown in a fiery exchange of words, according to The Chronicle Herald. Sessions was defiant as he spoke to local law enforcement officials about the lawsuit, citing a series of California laws that he says are unconstitutional and violate common sense. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions dramatically escalated the Trump administration's war with California on Wednesday, suing over its so-called sanctuary state law and clashing with Democratic Gov. I can't sit by idly while the lawful authority of federal officers are being blocked by legislative acts and politicians, he said, straying from his prepared remarks. He accused Sessions of going to war with California to appease President Donald Trump. Brown didn't hold back in his response, calling Sessions a liar and saying it was unprecedented for the attorney general to act more like Fox News than a law enforcement officer. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

california officials: The Justice Department argued a trio of state laws that, among other things, bar police from asking people about their citizenship status or participating in federal immigration enforcement activities are unconstitutional and have kept federal agents from doing their jobs, according to Toronto Star. The lawsuit named as defendants the state of California, Gov. California officials remained characteristically defiant, vowing to defend their landmark legislation. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Read more Under Trump, ICE arrests of immigrants with no criminal convictions have doubled Article Continued Below It is the latest salvo in an escalating feud between the Trump administration and California, which has resisted the president on issues like taxes and marijuana policy and defiantly refuses to help federal agents detain and deport undocumented immigrants. I say, bring it on, said California Senate president Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat who wrote the sanctuary state bill. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

citizenship status: The U.S. Justice Department is challenging three California laws that, among other things, bar police from asking people about their citizenship status or participating in federal immigration enforcement activities, according to CTV. The suit filed in federal court in Sacramento says the laws are unconstitutional and have kept federal agents from doing their jobs. He is expected to speak to law enforcement officials in the state's capital Wednesday, just hours after the U.S. Justice Department filed suit - the most aggressive move yet in the Trump administration's push to force so-called sanctuary cities and states to co-operate with immigration authorities. The Department of Justice and the Trump administration are going to fight these unjust, unfair and unconstitutional policies that have been imposed on you, Sessions said in prepared remarks. California officials remained defiant, with Democratic Gov. I believe that we are going to win. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

davids mensah: He told CBC News that police repeatedly asked him if he had drugs on him and forcefully arrested him without telling him why, according to CBC. He was searched twice during his arrest. Davids Mensah, who is originally from Ghana, was working as a delivery man for a restaurant when he was pulled over by police in Montreal North on June 4, 2011, for having a burnt-out tail light. I didn't even get the chance to turn around, and they grabbed my arm, and they smacked my head against my car, Mensah said. He also pointed to the fact that Mensah was a young black man living in Montreal North. According to the tribunal judge, Mario Gervais, the second search was a violation of Mensah's rights. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

irb hearing: Abdi's Toronto lawyer, Andrew Brouwer, argued for an adjournment based on justice and fairness, according to CBC. On Tuesday, the Federal Court agreed to hear Abdi's case and scheduled a hearing for May 29. Wednesday's hearing with the IRB in Toronto was supposed to determine Abdoul Abdi's future in Canada a country the 24-year-old has called home for most of his life. Warning letter sought According to Ben Perryman, Abdi's lawyer in Halifax, the court's decision could upend the deportation case because it will consider aspects of the case that the IRB cannot, including Abdi's experiences in the Nova Scotia childcare system and his bleak prospects in Somalia. Mr. Perryman said earlier he expected his client would be ordered deported if the IRB hearing went ahead. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

deportation action: A spokeswoman for the Immigration and Refugee Board said the decision maker, Mary Heyes, reserved her ruling until March 21, according to CTV. Abdi, 24, grew up in foster care in Nova Scotia but was never granted Canadian citizenship. At an immigration hearing in Toronto, a lawyer for Abdoul Abdi argued that the hearing should be put on hold pending the outcome of a judicial review of the case. He was detained by the Canada Border Services Agency after serving five years in prison for multiple offences, including aggravated assault, which made him subject to deportation. Andrew Brouwer, who represented Abdi at the hearing, said he hoped the government would do the right thing and either end the deportation action or allow the judicial review to be decided first. The hearing scheduled for Wednesday -- to confirm the non-citizen was guilty of serious criminality that precludes his staying in Canada -- came after a Federal Court judge rejected a bid to delay the deportation process. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

detention centre: The child, however, remains about 2,000 miles 3,200 kilometres away from her mother in a Chicago facility, he said, according to Metro News. Efforts on Wednesday will shift toward obtaining the girl's release and reuniting her with her mother, Gelernt said. The woman was released from a detention centre in San Diego under orders coming from up top in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. The ACLU also will continue to litigate the lawsuit filed Feb. 26 in federal court in San Diego seeking relief for other immigrant parents separated from their minor children, he said. However, Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton said in a social media post Sunday that the public should be skeptical of advocacy group claims that parents and their children are being separated for reasons other than protecting the child. There remain many other families who have been separated, and we will continue to attack this horrific family separation practice, Gelernt said in a statement.A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the woman's release and the status of her child. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.