March 1, 2006: Canadians Want An Investigation: The “Don't Ask. Don't Tell.” Campaign For Illegals Proceeds To The Amnesty Stage In Toronto And Elsewhere
Press Release
Last week, Toronto's Police Services Board approved “Don't Ask. Don't Tell” advocates' requests to keep the identities of illegal immigrants secret. As predicted, this campaign has now expanded into an Amnesty Campaign for illegal immigrants. Thousands of illegal immigrants in the Greater Toronto/Southern Ontario region have responded to rumours of an amnesty by lining up to pay fees and apply.
The CBC's “World Report” described the situation this morning (March 1) :
“A Toronto organization has been charging people, who are not documented to be in Canada, $50 and is asking them to fill out application forms. The organization, known as 'Choices', says it's working on a lobbying campaign to help undocumented people obtain legal status in Canada. But several other community organizations are furious, and they want immigration and police officials to investigate. As Jean Carter reports, thousands of people have lined up at an industrial building over the past six days to pay the fee.”
Immigration Watch Canada has the following questions:
(1) Once again, Canadians have to look further than seeing illegal immigrants as the down-trodden. They also have to conclude more than that this immigration industry organization is a collection of sleazy exploiters. The entire “Don't Ask. Don't Tell.” campaign began with a deceptive appeal to the sympathy of Canadians for people who had obviously cheated Canada's visa and immigration system.
As critics pointed out then, Canadian experience has clearly shown that amnesties lead to more illegal entries. In effect, they are a tacit approval of illegal entry and of an alternative immigration system.
Canadians also have to consider both the short and long-term effects of allowing illegals to stay here. Among these effects are the consequences of such a move on Canada's own marginalized legal citizens and on attitudes towards Canadian law. Canadians also have to consider the effects of mushrooming populations on the environments of already-crowded places like Southern Ontario and Canada's other large immigrant-receiving areas.
(2) Is the Toronto Police Services Board one of the organizations reported to be “furious”? If it isn't, it should be. It should also be seriously re-considering its approval of the “Don't Ask. Don't Tell.” campaign and the message it has sent to current and future illegal immigrants; to the organization called “Choices”; to Canada's entire immigration industry; and to all the legal citizens of the Southern Ontario region.
(3) Are the other “furious” organizations the ones who supported the “Don't Ask. Don't Tell” campaign when it approached the Toronto Police Services Board? If so, these organizations were warned that this could develop into an “Amnesty Campaign” and they should have realized this would be the next step.
(4) Where is our new Immigration Minister, Mr. Solberg? And where are his Citizenship and Immigration enforcement officers? If he and his officers ever wanted a golden opportunity to do some measuring of the number of illegal immigrants in the Southern Ontario area, and get a file of names, what better occasion could exist? As Canadians are now seeing, this is not just a Toronto issue. This campaign has already spread. Canadians would like to know what he and his officers have done over the past week to stop this movement.
(5) What part of Canada's immigration industry does the group accepting the $50 fee and the applications come from? Are immigration lawyers behind this group? Like street hawkers and Canada's entire immigration industry, this organization called “Choices” is trying to capitalize on a situation. If Canadians (both the worldly and the naive) ever wanted to see a more brazen example of how the immigration industry works, and of the undermining/flaunting of immigration law, this has to be it. As Mr. Solberg and the police can clearly see, they should be conducting a full investigation of this group. And Canadians should expect to see some results. Very soon.
END OF PRESS RELEASE
