CBSA Raids: Montreal Solidarity Statement

Immigrant rights are workers rights!
Status for All! No One Is Illegal!

Montreal, April 17, 2009 -- This coming Sunday, 41 migrant workers will be handcuffed, dragged to the airport and forcibly removed from Canada. They are among the more than 100 migrant workers who were rounded up in workplace raids and pick-ups that took place in various locations in southern Ontario on the first week of April.

The public workplace raids by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) represents a disturbing escalation of their enforcement tactics against migrants, using US-style mass raids and round-ups. More generally, the raids represent a clear escalation of the Conservative government’s attacks on non-status migrants, using the economic crisis as an excuse to target migrant workers and their families, and again perpetuating fear within our communities.

As Montreal-area social justice groups, and as part of an ongoing campaign for the regularization of all non-status people living in Canada, we express our solidarity and support for the individuals, families and friends who are affected by these attacks and raids, and who are organizing against them. We denounce the CBSA raids, and the Conservative government’s policies towards migrants and migrant laborers in Canada. We call for the immediate release of all detained migrants, as well as the granting of full status, actions that can be undertaken immediately by Ministers Peter Van Loan and Jason Kenney.

Locally, on a daily basis, we continue to fight against deportations and detentions and for the full rights of all workers, specifically recognizing non-status workers as workers with full rights. We demand Status for All, as part of our ongoing organizing and struggle for justice and dignity in the face of the repression and fear perpetuated by the policies and actions of governments and their agencies.

The recent southern Ontario raids by the CBSA are a racist escalation, targeting some of the most vulnerable and exploited communities in Canada. We unequivocally condemn the actions of the CBSA, and organize together to break fear and isolation, while building solidarity and support together.

Signed:
Solidarity Across Borders (SAB)
Immigrant Workers Center (IWC)
No One Is Illegal-Montreal
The Committee to Aid Refugees (CAR)
Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia
Projet Refuge
Women of Diverse Origins
Q-Team
South Asian Women's Community Center (SAWCC)
2110 Center for Gender Advocacy
Les Apatrides Anonymes
SIKLAB-Québec
Philippine Women's Center of Québec
Head & Hands (NDG)
PINAY: The Filipino Women's Organization in Quebec
Centre des femmes d'ici et d'ailleurs
and more.

To support this statement, please e-mail solidaritessansfrontieres@gmail.com