[FORUM] What do you think about undocumented workers?

[rfmcdonald]

CBC reports on a recent, very controversial, apparent search for undocumented workers in Toronto.

The arrests of 21 undocumented workers during a vehicle safety blitz Thursday is causing controversy for the Canada Border Services Agency and Ontario Provincial Police.

On Aug. 14 the OPP, along with officials from the ministries of transportation and environment, and the CBSA, took part in a vehicle spot checks in northwest Toronto, around Wilson Avenue between Jane Street and Highway 400.

CBSA told CBC News on Friday it arrested 21 people who were "in violation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act."

But, because the arrests were made during vehicle safety check, some question the methods and motivations of the CBSA and OPP.

Immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann said this is “not routine” and is, in fact, “a huge breach of public trust.”

The Toronto Star's Nicholas Keung has more.

While some said people were stopped by unmarked SUVs for what seemed to be routine vehicle inspections and failed to provide immigration papers, others claimed they were arrested at the parking lots of Tim Hortons, Coffee Time and Country Style while gathering for their morning pickups to job sites. Most arrested were men from Latin America.

The CBSA would only confirm that the officials conducted a joint “commercial vehicle safety blitz” in the area of Wilson Ave. between Jane St. and Highway 400. Twenty-one people were arrested for immigration violations, said spokesperson Vanessa Barrasa.

Within hours of the arrests, calls began pouring in to Toronto’s popular Spanish radio station, Boces Latinas, and alerts were broadcast to warn the community about the sweep. People in the Spanish community spread the message through social media, cautioning their loved ones.

“One of my friends just walked into the Coffee Time and opened the door. Two undercover officers moved in from the parking lot and asked for his ID. He was taken to two blue vans at a parking lot behind a bingo hall. There were other Spanish guys being detained there,” said Oscar, a failed refugee claimant from Costa Rica who has lived underground in Toronto for nine years. He spoke on condition that only his first name be used.

Immigration is a noteworthy fact in Toronto, as has been the issue of undocumented or illegal workers. February 2013 discussions about making Toronto a "sanctuary city" culminated in the June 2014 vote of city council to do so (Toronto Star, National Post). Immigration, however, is not an issue within the scope of cities in the Canadian system of governance.

Torontoist's Desmond Cole reported on one protest against this raid and some protesters' demands.

Suzanne Narain of Jane Finch Action Against Poverty said her group is demanding that Ontario become a “sanctuary province” where the undocumented can work without fear of arrest and detention. “We will not let undocumented people be deported,” Narain said. Toronto city council reaffirmed its “access without fear” policy in 2013 and pledged that undocumented people would receive equal access to City services. In 2008, Toronto Police contemplated but ultimately rejected a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy intended to prohibit officers from sharing immigration information with federal authorities.

Jaqueline Dwight, who works at a local community farm, said she was caught in stalled traffic on the day the raids were taking place.”The buses were moving very slowly—I wondered what was going on,” Dwight said. She added that she is “disgusted” by the federal government’s immigration policy. “There’s enough money in citizenship and immigration to allow people to work and develop themselves while they go through a legitimate immigration process. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

Mestanza told us he is dismayed that people without immigration status are being placed in maximum security prisons like Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton. “We are not criminals, we are working in this country very hard to raise our families.” Mestanza added that the federal government has knowingly benefited from the labour of undocumented migrant workers. “For many years, Canada immigration knew that in this country, there are so many undocumented people. Now, all of a sudden, they’ve decided time’s up, they have to go back.”

My comment there reflected my uncertainty on the issue.

I'm sympathetic to the people arrested, concerned about the possibility that the Canadian state might have acted illegitimately, and hope that their statuses can be regularized.

I also think that it's very important that there be clear rules and regulations regarding immigration and enforcement of these, so as to avoid anti-immigrant populisms. So far Canada has been fortunate enough to avoid these. Giving people who knowingly violated established rules and regulations regarding immigration a pass could end up jeopardizing far more people than them.

What do you think? What policies should Canada--and, conceivably, other countries--adopt in regards to undocumented workers? Are mass regularizations a good idea, or should we opt for stricter enforcement of existing laws, or perhaps something in between? Are there wider political issues we should be concerned with?

Discuss.