an alliance of university, community, and government partners dedicated to fostering welcoming communities and promoting the integration of immigrants and minorities across Canada
The Media Roundup provides links to recent and archived articles, in both English and French, on immigration and diversity appearing in the national and local news. Some international content is also included. Articles are updated weekly.
The New York Times – Obama Delays Immigration Action, Yielding to Democratic Concerns
President Obama will delay taking executive action on immigration until after the midterm elections, bowing to pressure from fellow Democrats who feared that acting now could doom his party’s chances this fall, White House officials said on Saturday. The decision is a reversal of Mr. Obama’s vow to issue broad directives to overhaul the immigration system soon after summer’s end, and sparked swift anger from immigration advocates. […] Cristina Jimenez, the managing director for United We Dream, an immigration advocacy group, accused Mr. Obama of “playing politics” with the lives of immigrant families and said, “The president’s latest broken promise is another slap to the face of the Latino and immigrant community.” Administration officials insist that Mr. Obama is more determined than ever to take action — eventually. But the president and his top aides have concluded that an immigration announcement before November could anger conservatives across the country, possibly cripple Democratic efforts to retain control of the Senate and severely set back any hope for progress on a permanent immigration overhaul.
Toronto Star – Tours Help Refugee Claimants Navigate Asylum Hearings
On a recent Thursday, 11 asylum seekers streamed into Hearing Room 9 on the fourth floor of the Immigration and Refugee Board’s Toronto headquarters on Victoria St. But not to have their cases heard. Instead, pen and notepaper ready, the claimants from nine countries paid careful attention to “tour guide” Dan Crawford, as he offered tips that could mean a lot to the success of their asylum claims. Crawford, an analyst with the refugee board, has presented more than 10 such READY orientation tours for GTA refugee claimants since May, an effort to help them navigate the asylum hearing process and learn about what to do and not to do at the proceeding. […] In light of the rapid changes Ottawa has made to expedite the asylum process, the Coalition of Service Providers for Refugee Claimants in Southern Ontario has partnered with the refugee board and the United Nations Refugee Agency to host the biweekly tours. Similar initiatives are also available to refugee claimants in Vancouver and Montreal.
Radio-Canada – Obama repousse sa réforme de l’immigration
Le président des États-Unis, Barack Obama, a décidé d’attendre après les élections de mi-mandat, en novembre, avant de prendre des mesures officielles au sujet de l’immigration, revenant ainsi sur son engagement d’agir avant la fin de l’été. Cette décision a provoqué la colère de groupes militant pour la réforme de l’immigration, tout en rassurant certains candidats démocrates qui seront vulnérables le jour de l’élection. Deux sources à la Maison-Blanche ont précisé que le président croit qu’imposer une décision à ce sujet en pleine campagne de mi-mandat politiserait l’enjeu et nuirait à toute tentative future de faire adopter une réforme de l’immigration. Selon ces mêmes sources, qui ont fait ces révélations sous le couvert de l’anonymat avant l’annonce officielle par le gouvernement, M. Obama a pris cette décision vendredi, alors qu’il rentrait à Washington après le sommet de l’OTAN, au Pays de Galles.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada News Release – Montréal Welcomes More than 3,500 New Canadians
This week, Montréal welcomed approximately 3,500 new Canadian citizens from more than 70 countries. Ceremonies like these demonstrate how the government is working to make the citizenship program more efficient, helping more people realize their dream of becoming Canadian sooner. Recent changes to the Citizenship Act, which received Royal Assent on June 19, 2014, will allow for further improvements to the efficiency of the citizenship program. The new streamlined decision-making process and other changes to the Citizenship Act are expected to bring the processing time for citizenship applications down to under one year and reduce the citizenship application backlog by more than 80 percent by 2015-2016.
CBC – Canadian Immigration Law: Too Much Red Tape and No Customer Service
One only needs to look at the general red tape that bogs down the immigration system to see how frustrating immigration is for our future neighbours, employees and taxpayers. One breathtaking example is the number of pages an individual has to fill out to immigrate to Canada. For instance, if a Canadian wants to sponsor their foreign spouse to Canada, at least 29 pages of forms have to be filled out. While many questions in these 29 pages are necessary, within these 29 pages, the foreign spouse can be asked up to six times to enter their date of birth. Surely, in the 21st century, the government can streamline some of these questions. Asking prospective immigrants the same question multiple times is not in any way efficient. […] Over the last year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has changed numerous forms, multiple times, without warning. When an individual submits an outdated form, that individual runs the risk of having their immigration application returned.
CBC – Teaching Immigrants English Tutors Barred from Solo Home Visits
Some English-as-a-second-language tutors and their students are concerned about a new Nova Scotia policy that prevents teachers from visiting students’ homes alone. The Teaching Immigrants English program is meant to assist immigrants living in rural areas with their English skills. Tutors lead small groups, classes, or individual lessons. For students who are unable to make it to public spaces like a library, tutors travel to their homes for one-on-one instruction. For this school year, the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration has decided there must be at least two people on a home visit for occupational health and safety reasons. […]The office of immigration says it is prepared to make accommodations on a case-by-case basis for students who need home instruction. It stresses that no one will be left without tutoring, and it will be working out the details over the next few weeks. A possible solution would be partnering with other agencies such as the YMCA, which also makes home visits.
