The Ontario Federation of Labour shares the deep concern and outrage expressed by many human rights organizations about the recent arrests by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) of undocumented workers during “a vehicle safety blitz”, which involved the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
The actions of the CBSA bear all the distinctions of “raids” targeted towards people of colour who have been racially profiled. This is completely unacceptable.
In the last few years, several immigration raids have targeted undocumented people. Many questions remain about accountability for these latest raids. Which agency led the operation? Why were CBSA agents present during what were described as vehicle safety inspections? Why are provincial authorities participating in federal immigration work? Why were the deportations of those arrested fast-tracked and why were they coerced into signing papers that were not adequately translated, as reported widely?
The Ontario Federation of Labour has long expressed concern about the reality faced by migrant workers across Canada, who are vulnerable to exploitation and rights violations as a result of discriminatory immigration and labour policy. Migrant workers and undocumented workers also face abuse at the hands of unscrupulous businesses and recruiters. Undocumented workers deserve protection – not prosecution.
Federal policy has reduced access to citizenship and greatly increased the number of migrant and undocumented workers in Canada. Last summer, the Ontario Federation of Labour released a report entitled “Labour Without Borders”, which called on the provincial government to implement a Migrant Workers’ Bill Of Rights to ensure all workers in Ontario have access to permanent residency and can live with dignity.
Central to its findings was that federal immigration laws actually promote exploitation of immigrants and migrant workers by denying them a path to citizenship, and all of the rights and opportunities that comes along with it. These unfair immigration laws must be changed.
Two of the OFL’s ongoing demands of the provincial government are that employer and recruiter registration and licensing be implemented and adequate resources committed to proactive enforcement to prevent exploitation – involvement in these raids is an unacceptable step in the opposite direction.
The Ontario Federation of Labour calls on the federal and provincial governments to put an end to any further raids of this nature. The provincial government, in particular, is responsible for ensuring that no provincial services or protections be denied to anyone on the basis of immigration status and that the rights of those arrested are protected.
Furthermore, public investigations by the appropriate bodies must be conducted, in cooperation with organizations that work with undocumented workers, into the conduct of the OPP, MTO and CBSA in the raids to establish accountability and to determine their legality, whether racial profiling was used and whether the rights of those accused were respected.
