brenda garcia: Brenda Garcia is reunited with her 7-year-old son, Kevin, at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., in June, according to Toronto Star. Dozens of immigrant children will be released from detention centres and reunited with their parents Tuesday. It was the largest single effort to date to undo the effects of U.S. President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy of separating families who try to slip across the Mexican border into the country. RYAN CHRISTOPHER JONES / The New York Times More than 50 children under five-years-old could be back in the arms of their parents by the deadline at the end of the day, the Justice Department said. Government attorneys returned to federal court in San Diego on Tuesday to seek an extension for releasing 20 other children under age five, saying officials need more time to track down parents who have already been deported or released into the U.S. Asked about the missed deadline, Trump said Well, I have a solution. Authorities gave few details on where the reunions would be held, and many were expected to take place in private. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

children: The Department of Justice asked Gee to alter a 1997 settlement after the president reversed a policy of separating migrant children from their parents that caused an international uproar when the emotional scenes of families being split up were caught on camera, according to CTV. The government wanted to alter the settlement so it could detain families together long-term. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee said the federal government had failed to present new evidence to support revising a court order that limits the detention of children who crossed the border illegally. Gee called the government's request a cynical attempt to shift responsibility to the court for over 20 years of Congressional inaction and ill-considered executive action that have led to the current stalemate. She said the application to change the agreement in the case named for lead plaintiff Jenny Flores was procedurally improper and wholly without merit. Gee said the government's had sought to replow the same familiar territory it had three years ago when she rejected a similar effort by the Obama administration. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

country: Like our ancestors, migrants are fleeing persecution and looking for a better life, according to Toronto Star. They will help build our country and become the next physicians at hospitals, politicians in Parliament and truck drivers delivering the food we eat. We should not politicize this issue and divide people in order to score points. Immigrants are not aliens from outer space. Our country is being built by immigrants. They are you and me and our next-door neighbours. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

government lawyer: The Trump administration was working on final background checks for another five children ahead of Tuesday's deadline, according to CTV. On Monday, Trump's administration acknowledged it would not meet a Tuesday deadline set by a San Diego federal judge to reunite detained children under 5 with their families. A government lawyer said Monday at least 54 children under the age of 5 would join their parents by a court-ordered deadline, only about half the 100 or so children covered by the order. Trump said Tuesday that he has a solution to the missed deadline Tell people not to come to our country illegally. Don't come to our country illegally. Before departing the White House for Europe, Trump said, That's the solution. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

health solutions: Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said the plan is to modernize the management of health information, according to The Chronicle Herald. This means that patients will finally be able to see their own health information, the minister told a news conference Tuesday. The money will be invested by Canada Health Infoway, an independent, not-for-profit organization that promotes digital health solutions across Canada. It will also create an electronic prescription service, which means that prescriptions can go directly from the doctor's office to the pharmacy. This will be a game changer, significantly improving the way doctors, pharmacies and hospitals operate, Petitpas Taylor said. The announcement came at the conclusion of a meeting in Summerside, P.E.I., that included the four Atlantic premiers and federal ministers responsible for the Atlantic Growth Strategy. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ice centre: The three fathers were just holding them and hugging them and telling them that everything was fine and that they were never going to be separated again, said immigration lawyer Abril Valdes, according to The Chronicle Herald. One of the fathers, Ever Reyes Mejia, walked out of the ICE centre carrying his beaming son and the boy's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, two boys and a girl who had been in temporary foster care were reunited with their Honduran fathers at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement centre about three months after they were split up. The boy was secured in a booster seat, and father and son were driven away. The Justice Department said more than 50 children under age 5 could be back in the arms of their parents by the deadline at the end of the day. Lawyers said the fathers were too distraught to speak to the news media. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

los angeles: The government said that long-term confinement was the only way to avoid separating families when parents were detained on criminal charges, according to Toronto Star. A mother, left, and son, from Guatemala, hold hands during a news conference following their reunion in Linthicum, Md., after being reunited in June following their separation at the U.S. border. In a ruling that countered nearly every argument posed by the Justice Department, Judge Dolly M. Gee of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles held that there was no basis to amend a long-standing consent decree that requires children to be released to licensed care programs within 20 days. A California federal judge rejected the Trump administration's efforts to detain immigrant families in long-term facilities, calling it a cynical attempt' to undo a longstanding court settlement. In another setback, federal immigration authorities were preparing Monday to unspool the administration's family separation program, with 54 young migrants scheduled to be returned to their parents as a result of an earlier court ruling from a federal judge in San Diego. Patrick Semansky / The Associated Press Gee said the administration's request to modify the decree, the 1997 Flores agreement, was a cynical attempt to shift immigration policymaking to the courts in the wake of over 20 years of congressional inaction and ill-considered executive action that have led to the current stalemate. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

medicine hat: Brooks, with a population of about 14,450 is on the Trans-Canada Highway, but it's 190 kilometres to Calgary toward the west and 110 kilometres to Medicine Hat in the east, according to The Chronicle Herald. We already feel cut off to a degree because of the availability of some services in the big city only, said Idriss, manager of Brooks and County Immigration Services. Greyhound has announced it will end all its routes in the West, save for one between Vancouver and Seattle, at the end of October. A large population of newcomers to Canada work in Brooks, about 90 per cent of them at a beef-processing facility owned by JBS Canada. There are people who have vehicles, but are not that comfortable going into a big city with their own vehicle, and they would just prefer taking public transportation, he said. Idriss estimates about 1,000 people moved to the community to work and many find getting out of town difficult. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

olesia luciw-andryjowycz: Articulating a growing rightist effort to equate communism with Nazism in eastern Europe, Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta chapter president, Olesia Luciw-Andryjowycz, told the Edmonton Journal that the hammer and sickle was akin to having a swastika on a bottle of cognac, according to Rabble. This is not the first attempt by provincial NDP members to ban Russian vodka. Alberta MLAs Deron Bilous and Jessica Littlewood argued that a hammer and sickle logo on a bottle of vodka was offensive. In response to the 2014 upheaval in Ukraine, a minister in the NDP government in Manitoba discussed a provincial ban on Russian vodka. In 2014 the right-wing nationalist Euro-Maidan movement ousted Viktor Yanukovych who was oscillating between the European Union and Russia. At the same time, NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo tabled a motion in the Ontario legislature calling on government-run liquor stores to suspend sales of Russian Standard vodka. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

syrian refugees: Between January and April of this year, 75 Syrians have settled in Nova Scotia, 40 in New Brunswick, 35 in PEI, and 15 in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to CTV. Nabiha Atallah is the manager of communications and research for the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia. They have jobs and are taking English classes, all while hoping they can be reunited with the rest of their family, who remain in a Jordanian refugee camp/ The Syrian refugee effort is still going pm across the country, although numbers have slowed here in the Maritimes. We are receiving refugees from other parts of the world as well, said Atallah. We did so well with the large number of Syrian refugees who came in 2015/16. In our opinion, we could increase our numbers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

housing crisis: Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, told a news conference Monday he believes Ford's vocabulary is inaccurate, according to National Observer. I'm very concerned by Premier Ford and provincial minister Lisa Mac Leod really making statements that are difficult to understand when it comes to how they're describing asylum seekers, Hussen told reporters in Halifax. Last week, a spokesman for Premier Doug Ford used the term in a statement sent to the media, saying the recent influx of asylum seekers has resulted in a housing crisis in Toronto and threats to services that Ontario families depend on. ; On Monday, an emailed statement sent to The Canadian Press from Ford's office repeated the illegal border crossers terminology. These are people who we have a legal obligation to give a fair hearing to, and so we're applying Canadian law, we're applying international law and that requires all levels of government to work together. However, according to the federal Customs Act, those seeking asylum in Canada have that right to do so under the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. The act of crossing the border at a point other than an official port of entry is illegal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

media maven: This means that patients will finally be able to see their own health information, the minister told a news conference Tuesday, according to Vancouver Courier. It will also create an electronic prescription service, which means that prescriptions can go directly from the doctor's office to the pharmacy. The money will be invested by Canada Health Infoway, an independent, not-for-profit organization that promotes digital health solutions across Canada.article continues below Trending Stories Remembering Megan Scraper adventurer was gifted athlete, social media maven Minimum wage increases go into effect June 1 across B.C. The stinkiest, most heavy metal sounding flower in the world is about to bloom in Vancouver Vancouver diver spent nine days in Thailand cave as part of soccer team rescue Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said the plan is to modernize the management of health information. The announcement came at the conclusion of a meeting in Summerside, P.E.I., that included the four Atlantic premiers and federal ministers responsible for the Atlantic Growth Strategy. Last year, Ottawa announced it would spend 300 million over five years through the Canada Health Infoway. This will be a game changer, significantly improving the way doctors, pharmacies and hospitals operate, Petitpas Taylor said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

split up.article: One of the fathers, Ever Reyes Mejia, walked out of the ICE centre carrying his beaming son and the boy's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack, according to Vancouver Courier. The boy was secured in a booster seat, and father and son were driven away. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, two boys and a girl who had been in temporary foster care were reunited with their Honduran fathers at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement centre about three months after they were split up.article continues below Trending Stories Remembering Megan Scraper adventurer was gifted athlete, social media maven Minimum wage increases go into effect June 1 across B.C. The stinkiest, most heavy metal sounding flower in the world is about to bloom in Vancouver Vancouver diver spent nine days in Thailand cave as part of soccer team rescue The three fathers were just holding them and hugging them and telling them that everything was fine and that they were never going to be separated again, said immigration lawyer Abril Valdes. Lawyers said the fathers were too distraught to speak to the news media. It was the largest single effort to date to undo the effects of President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy of separating families who try to slip across the Mexican border into the U.S. Authorities gave few details on where the reunions would be held, and many were expected to take place in private. The Justice Department said more than 50 children under age 5 could be back in the arms of their parents by the deadline at the end of the day. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

centennial building: Hundreds more are currently being housed in another student residence. ; But with less than a month before students return ahead of the school year, time is running out for refugee claimants who have yet to find a more permanent home, according to National Observer. The Aug. 9 deadline has been the focus of political discussions in recent weeks, with the Ontario government saying the province will face a crisis without federal support. Fifty four-bedroom dormitories at Centennial College now serve as temporary homes for 344 asylum seekers, including 96 families. For some of the asylum seekers staying at the Centennial building, that date ushers in a new wave of uncertainty. They sold their belongings and took their two-year-old daughter to Orlando, Fla., they said. But they say anything is better than what they left behind.A Nigerian couple, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said they fled their home in March after receiving threats from the militant group Boko Haram. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

asylum seekers: Premier Doug Ford must reverse his position on not co-operating with Ottawa to help house refugee claimants, according to Toronto Star. Tijana Martin / THE CANADIAN PRESS This is exactly what Toronto doesn't need. If you tried to make a difficult situation worse, you couldn't do a better job than the Ford team is doing by invoking inflammatory language about illegal border crossers and declaring that it won't even work with the federal government to address this situation. For many weeks, Mayor John Tory has been sounding the alarm about mounting pressures on the city's shelter system caused by the arrival of asylum seekers crossing the Canada-U.S. border near Montreal. About 800 are also being housed at two community colleges, but will have to be moved once students start returning on Aug. 9. Many are being directed toward Toronto, and they now occupy some 46 per cent of shelter spaces. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian press: On Monday, an emailed statement sent to The Canadian Press from Ford's office repeated the illegal border crossers terminology, according to CTV. Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, told a news conference Monday he believes Ford's vocabulary is inaccurate. Last week, a spokesman for Premier Doug Ford used the term in a statement sent to the media, saying the recent influx of asylum seekers has resulted in a housing crisis in Toronto and threats to services that Ontario families depend on. I'm very concerned by Premier Ford and provincial minister Lisa Mac Leod really making statements that are difficult to understand when it comes to how they're describing asylum seekers, Hussen told reporters in Halifax. The act of crossing the border at a point other than an official port of entry is illegal. These are people who we have a legal obligation to give a fair hearing to, and so we're applying Canadian law, we're applying international law and that requires all levels of government to work together. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

court hearing: That's only about half of the 100 or so infants and toddlers covered by the order, according to CTV. At a court hearing, Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian acknowledged the government wouldn't meet the deadline for all the children, citing a variety of reasons, including that the parents of some of the youngsters have already been deported. The families will be released after they are reunited. Fabian said that 54 children will be joined with their parents by the end of Tuesday at locations across the country and that an additional five were undergoing final background checks. They will be set free in the U.S. pending the outcome of their immigration cases, which can take several years. It was the first time the government indicated whether the parents and children would be released or detained together. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

food history: Halifax-based Clare native Simon Thibault's acclaimed Pantry and Palate Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food Nimbus was listed in the Regional/Cultural Cookbooks category, which includes titles that best exemplify the food of a specific region or terroir, or cultural or ethnic group, either within Canada or from around the world, according to The Chronicle Herald. Former Chronicle Herald columnist Jan Wong's Apron Strings Navigating Food and Family in France, Italy and China Goose Lane Editions was listed in the Culinary Narratives category, for books that explore food history, politics, memoir or biography. Now in its 21st year, the awards highlight the country's best food writing in both official languages, with 91 cookbooks and 50 food blogs entering, narrowed down to a shortlist with five entries in each of the 13 categories. In the Food Blogs General category one slot went to Halifax native Susan Keefe, now working out of Toronto, who revisits food fascinations both past and present on Rhubarb & Cod www.rhubarbandcod . The 26 gold and silver award winners will be named at the Taste Canada Awards Gala on Oct. 29 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

miguel roberts: Dignitaries take a tour of Southwest Key Programs Casa Padre, a U.S. immigration facility in Brownsville, Texas, in June, where children who have been separated from their families are detained, according to Toronto Star. The American Civil Liberties Union says it appears the Trump administration will miss a July 10 deadline to reunite young children with their parents in more than half of the cases. That's only about half of the 100 or so children covered by the court order. Miguel Roberts / The Associated Press At a court hearing, Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian acknowledged the Trump administration won't meet the deadline for all the youngsters. More than 2,000 children in all were separated from their parents by U.S. immigration authorities at the border this spring before U.S. President Donald Trump reversed course on June 20 amid an international outcry and said families should remain together. She said the government was still working to do background checks and confirm the relationships between the adults and children in its custody. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

ontario families: Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, speaks during a press conference in Halifax on Monday, according to Toronto Star. Hussen, himself an immigrant from Somalia, says Canada has a legal obligation under national and international law to give a fair hearing to refugee claimants. Last week, a spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford used the term in a statement sent to the media, saying the recent influx of asylum seekers has resulted in a housing crisis in Toronto and threats to services that Ontario families depend on. Michael Tutton / THE CANADIAN PRESS On Monday, an emailed statement sent to The Canadian Press from Ford's office repeated the illegal border crossers terminology. I'm very concerned by Premier Ford and provincial minister Lisa Mac Leod really making statements that are difficult to understand when it comes to how they're describing asylum seekers, Hussen told reporters in Halifax. Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, told a news conference Monday he believes Ford's vocabulary is inaccurate. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

year hussen: The number of employers who are participating in the program in Nova Scotia has doubled this year Hussen said, according to The Chronicle Herald. There may be an announcement coming soon to increase the allocation for Atlantic Canada. Despite an initially slow uptake, Hussen told The Chronicle Herald that interest in the program has been so high that provinces are well on the way to meeting their allocations at the year's halfway point, prompting him to consider a bump in quotas. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot was announced in July 2016 as part of the Atlantic Growth Strategy, and officially launched in March 2017. The target for the entire Atlantic region for 2018 is 2,000, and to date more than 1,800 graduates and skilled immigrants have been provincially endorsed to participate in the pilot, Hussen's office confirmed. The program initially aimed for up to 2,000 additional primary immigrant applicants and their families in 2017, and last fall the federal government confirmed that the program would continue and double to an allocation of 4,000 by 2020. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

housing crisis: Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, told a news conference Monday he believes Ford's vocabulary is inaccurate, according to Vancouver Courier. I'm very concerned by Premier Ford and provincial minister Lisa Mac Leod really making statements that are difficult to understand when it comes to how they're describing asylum seekers, Hussen told reporters in Halifax. Last week, a spokesman for Premier Doug Ford used the term in a statement sent to the media, saying the recent influx of asylum seekers has resulted in a housing crisis in Toronto and threats to services that Ontario families depend on. article continues below Trending Stories Vancouver diver spent nine days in Thailand cave as part of soccer team rescue The stinkiest, most heavy metal sounding flower in the world is about to bloom in Vancouver Vision Vancouver's Diego Cardona seeks redemption in second city hall run Vancouver High on Life vloggers die in Shannon Falls tragedy On Monday, an emailed statement sent to The Canadian Press from Ford's office repeated the illegal border crossers terminology. These are people who we have a legal obligation to give a fair hearing to, and so we're applying Canadian law, we're applying international law and that requires all levels of government to work together. However, according to the federal Customs Act, those seeking asylum in Canada have that right to do so under the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. The act of crossing the border at a point other than an official port of entry is illegal. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

tomas: It took 20 seconds for that life to be taken away, according to Vancouver Courier. An immigration officer looking for someone else spotted him and asked an innocuous question C mo est s How are you Then he asked whether Tomas had papers. It had taken a decade for Brandon Tomas Tomas to establish a life in America a wife, a steady job and five American-born children. In a flash, the 33-year-old Guatemalan was in handcuffs, in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, headed to jail and probable deportation.article continues below Trending Stories Vancouver diver spent nine days in Thailand cave as part of soccer team rescue The stinkiest, most heavy metal sounding flower in the world is about to bloom in Vancouver Vision Vancouver's Diego Cardona seeks redemption in second city hall run Vancouver-Seattle bus route only survivor as Greyhound pulls out of western provinces Many miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities are separating families in raids that target immigrants at home and at work, conducted in the name of public safety. This is the story of one such operation, and the lingering effects it had not just on families but on the community they had come to call home. Most of these raids go unnoticed outside of the communities affected, but they are integral to the Trump administration's broader crackdown on immigration that is leading to more arrests, particularly of migrants with no criminal records. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

toronto-based author: Frank gets sick and they can't afford medical care, but Polly can travel into the future; her job there includes health benefits so Frank can get well, according to NOW Magazine. They promise to meet in Galveston in 1993, but she ends up re-routed to 1998. Frank and Polly are in love in Buffalo circa 1981. America and the United States are two different countries one stratified, one more equal. What will it take for Polly and Frank to be reunited From page one, the Toronto-based author's work of allegorical fiction reads like a comment on immigration within a love story. In America, there is only electronic currency, movement is restricted and strict curfews are enforced. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

trump: The Trump administration argued that California is obstructing its immigration enforcement efforts.article continues below Trending Stories Vancouver diver spent nine days in Thailand cave as part of soccer team rescue The stinkiest, most heavy metal sounding flower in the world is about to bloom in Vancouver Vision Vancouver's Diego Cardona seeks redemption in second city hall run Vancouver High on Life vloggers die in Shannon Falls tragedy As he did in last week's decision, Mendez ruled Monday that the federal government could proceed with its attempt to block part of a third California sanctuary law, which prohibits employers from allowing immigration officials on their property without warrants, according to Vancouver Courier. The twin rulings by Mendez, who was nominated to the federal bench by Republican President George W. Bush, allow California to continue limiting police co-operation with immigration officials and require inspections of detention facilities despite the Trump administration's lawsuit filed in March. A judge on Monday dismissed the federal government's claim that U.S. law trumps two California laws intended to protect immigrants who are in the country illegally, affirming his ruling last week that California was within its rights to pass two of its three so-called sanctuary laws.U.S. District Judge John Mendez rejected the U.S. government's argument on two of the laws that the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government pre-eminent power over states to regulate immigration. The lawsuit, announced by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is part of the Trump administration's efforts to overturn so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that he said allow criminals to remain free. California's law limiting the sharing of information with federal agents does not directly conflict with U.S. law, Mendez wrote in a seven-page decision. Supporters of sanctuary laws argue they encourage immigrants to report crimes without fearing deportation. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

way right: Popular columnists who are featured on major platforms with significant media exposure that writers of colour can only dream of have also waded into the debate, according to National Observer. Let's get one thing out of the way right now there has been no attack on freedom of speech. The show was recently cancelled after major protests and international media reported on the fact that it was produced by a white producer and featured a predominantly white cast with a white singer front and centre.I've heard Quebec pundits characterize the protests and the outrage as hysteria and paranoia. None whatsoever, writes Toulas Take SLAV Mtl They call the decision by the Montreal Jazz Festival to cancel the show intellectual terrorism, an attack on freedom of speech, emotional tyranny, cultural Apartheid, a blow to artistic freedom, fascism and censorship. Was that censorship too or simply a just cause prevailing When the CBC had to pull The Story of Us and publicly apologize following an uproar in Quebec about the way the historical TV series portrayed French settlers was that censorship or a wrong righted Perspective is a funny thing. Are you listening to yourselves speak What embarrassing hyperbole! ; As stand-up comedian Louis T recently tweeted, when Mathieu Bock C t and Richard Martineau were against the re-enactment of the Battle at the Plains of Abraham by the federal government in 2009, the event was cancelled. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.