Articles of interest over the past month

2024/10/18 Leave a comment

Need to get a life as during my vacation break monitored Canadian media and collated these articles that I found of interest. Likely missed some.

The ones I found most interesting:

Donald Wright: We are not going to build our way out of the housing crisis. The harsh reality… Along with Donald Wright: When it comes to where people want to live, Canada is a very small country, Donald Wright: Urban densification is not going to solve our housing crisis, Donald Wright: The first step in solving Canada’s housing crisis? Implement a non-delusional immigration policy. “I calculate that Canada will need to limit the number of new PRs and net increase in NPRs to an average of 175,000 per year between now and 2031. This is a significant reduction from the 640,000 per year average over the past five years.”

Jason Kenney’s biggest worry about the U.S. election: A potential deportation program. “If he was still immigration minister, Mr. Kenney would make changes such as beefing up the Safe Third Country Agreement and increasing the Canada Border Services Agency’s resources. “I would make it clear that Canada is an open and welcoming country, but you have to go through the normal legal process.”’ His overall take on the Liberal record in this interview: Trudeau has ‘catastrophically mismanaged’ immigration: Jason Kenney

Laura Wright | Canada’s fertility rate has plummeted. Maybe we shouldn’t care. Good call to recognize demographic realities and focus on how to re-examine existing programs in light of this trend, rather than merely trying to delay it through immigration.

Simpson: Blame the four fatal ‘I’s of Justin Trudeau for the lacklustre state of the Liberals. On immigration: “Historians of this period will look at cabinet records to figure out why the Liberals took the decisions they did that turned public opinion against immigration and the incumbent government. Was it the old Liberal reflex that immigrants usually vote Liberal so the more the merrier? Was it a response to those who proposed that Canada should become a country of 100 million people? Was it a response to business leaders who wanted more cheap labour? Was it the Liberal/liberal reflex to want to do good rather than to be smart? Was it a response to higher education institutions whose budgets were stressed by inadequate provincial funding and so needed foreign students whom they could charge higher fees? Was the push for record-high immigration needed to fill the gap of a declining birth rate? Was it that a party that had wrapped itself in self-virtue could not believe that a variation of what had happed in other Western democracies could not and would not happen here? Was it blind incompetence not to appreciate that driving up immigration and refugees to unprecedented numbers would produce a myriad of negative side effects and destroy what had been close to a consensus in favour of previous levels of newcomers?”

Clark: Marc Miller and a mea culpa makes a rare success. “Yet Mr. Miller has taken steps that have turned around the trend. It’s hard for governments to claim credit for acknowledging their big, bad mistakes, and fixing them. But in politics, that should be rated as a rare success.”

‘Alarming trend’ of more international students claiming asylum: minister. Belated recognition of the perverse incentives at play and the likely need for further corrective actions. Marc Miller Strikes Again provides HESA’s critique of federal actions and that fed-prov consultations should have possible to achieve comparable results. This will be the next shoe to drop in our broken immigration system, Tony Keller on Miller’s admission and the further increases in asylum claimants and overstays.

Schools Make Millions Offering Degrees That Double as Work Visas (USA). Not unique to Canada. “A record 24,000 foreign graduate students were enrolled in schools offering Day 1 CPT — or curricular practical training — as of fall 2022, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of the most recent available Department of Education data. At typical prices, tuition probably topped $240 million, Bloomberg estimates.”

Waterloo’s international graduates outearn Canadian-born students, paving the way for immigration policies, experts say. Coverage of Skuterud’s case study for University of Waterloo international students.

Urback: Canada is sleepwalking into a refugee crisis. We need to act now. Another highlighting of the consequences of lack of foresight and likely not listening to public service advice. “It’s not ideal that those legitimately seeking refuge in Canada may be denied the opportunity, but it’s a consequence of this government ignoring years of warnings. It cannot ignore these next ones.”

Lisée | Les difficultés temporaires de François Legault. “François Legault avait promis de mieux gérer l’immigration et d’y arriver dans le cadre fédéral. Force est de constater que, loin d’avoir réussi à « en prendre moins », son gouvernement a activement exacerbé la situation pendant plusieurs années, avant de réaliser, penaud, dans quel pétrin il avait contribué à plonger le Québec.”

Most Canadians say citizens who stay in high-risk conflict zones don’t deserve government protection: Leger poll. Not surprising and understandable. “Canadians of convenience.” Also Flight leaves Lebanon with about one-third of seats reserved for Canadians filled.

Chris Selley: For anti-Israel protesters, October 7 anniversary is an unofficial citizenship test. Yep. 

Combatting hate in Canada. Announcement of expanded funding for a variety of programs and initiatives ($273.6 million over six years, and $29.3 million ongoing) without, it would appear, any substantive change from the INSERT evaluation. Likely will be significantly cut back under a Conservative government.

Robert P. George: A Princeton Professor’s Advice to Young Conservatives. “Grievance identitarianism — be it of the left or the right — impedes the very thing a student is attending university to do: namely, think and learn. It turns a person into a tribalist, someone who, rather than thinking for oneself, outsources one’s thinking to the group.”

Allen | The wounds of October 7 cannot heal until there is peace. “I yearn for a Canada whose citizens can hold in their hearts sympathy and understanding for all those killed and maimed during this period. I wish that students on campus and Canadians more generally understood that both sides view themselves as victims and that each side bears some blame for the current crisis. I acknowledge that Palestinians have been under the yoke of an illegal occupation for over five decades and that this must end. Unfortunately, the fears and hatred generated by the Oct. 7 attack have made the task harder.”

John Ivison: Flag-burning Islamists in our streets would kill us with our own tolerance. “Hostilities may not have been declared, but if you don’t think Canada is in a fight for all it holds dear, you should watch the forces of radical Islam calling for the death of Canada on the streets of Vancouver, while holding the remnants of a burned Maple Leaf flag.”

Gopnik: The tragedy of our time is that antisemitism rises equally from the left and right. “Every person is a world in an agonizingly literal sense. Let’s recall that one of the few texts that passes complete from Jewish scripture to Islamic scripture is the injunction that “Whoever kills a soul, it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one – it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”

The Functionary: Interview with Peter Wallace. Thoughtful discussion between Kathryn May and Wallace. Some of my favourite quotes, good reading for those preparing for a Conservative government:

“We want people to trust government, but they really should be skeptical about what government does with authority and they really should push back on that.”

“We’re mystified (as to) why people can be upset with government, and I don’t think we should be. The reality is governments are often times incredibly intrusive.”

“It’s incredibly important to remember that today’s dissidents are often tomorrow’s heroes. We must be cautious about shutting people out of the policy process.”

“The public pays for what we do, and they have a right to see our work. We need to demonstrate our value and show that we are thoughtful and competent. So, let’s embrace that scrutiny.”

“We’ve got to have metrics to help us understand individually at a gut level what we’re doing with that money. We have to be satisfied before we advise an expense that it’s actually worth the opportunity cost, worth the fiscal cost.

Full list attached:

Articles of Interest – Fall 2024Download

Filed under Citizenship, Immigration

COVID-19 Immigration Effects – July 2024 update

2024/09/14 Leave a comment

Highlights:

  • Permanent residents admissions: PR Admissions: Increase from 44,530 in June to 47,770 in July. July year-over-year change (change from 2022 in parentheses): Economic – PNP 34.9% (15.0%), Economic – Federal 11.7% (0.7%), Family 2.8% (-2.1%), Refugees 14.4% (30.8%)
  • TR2PR (Those already in Canada): Increase from 19,170 in June (43% of all PRs) to 22,100 in July (46.3% of all PRs). July year-over-year change (change from 2022): 10.6% (32.5%)
  • TRs-IMP: Decrease from 70,435 in June to 61,510 in July. July year-over-year (change from 2022): Agreements: 205.6% (-32.8%), Canadian Interests: -27.7% (29.9%), Other IMP Participants -56.1% (430.3%), Not stated -18.0% (-17.7%)
  • TRs-TFWs: Decrease from 19,230 in June to15,330 in July. July year-over-year change (change from 2022): Caregivers -18.8% (0.0%), Agriculture -23.0% (-19.5%) and Other LMIA -9.4% (79.4%).
  • NEW: TRs by occupation code (June, will be updated quarterly): 58 % low-wage (D), year-over-year change (change from 2022) 18.5% (571.3%): 
  • Students: Increase from 29,420 in June to 35,105 in July. July year-over-year change (change from 2023): -35.4% post-secondary -41.5% (-5.1%). Year-to date 2024 compared to 2023 decline of 4 percent 
  • Asylum Claimants: Stable, from 14,485 in June to 14,825 in July. July year-over-year change (change from 2022): 23.4% (90.1%)
  • Citizenship: Increase from 33,179 in June to 36,070 in July. July year-over-year change (change from 2022): 15.4% (25.0%). Year-to date 2024 compared to 2023 increase of 16 percent
  • Visitor Visas: Increase from 118,402 in June to 127,399 in July. July year-over-year change (change from 2022): -19.7% (37.6%).Slide 3 has the overall numbers and change.

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/canadian-immigration-tracker-key-slides-july-2024-pdf/271760138

Filed under Citizenship, Immigration Tagged with , ,

Kuwait revokes citizenship of more than 10,000 people with dual nationality

2024/09/13 Leave a comment

Of note (mainly from neighbouring countries):

Kuwait’s Central Agency for Remedying Illegal Residents’ Status (CARIRS) has revoked the citizenship of more than 10,000 people with dual nationality between 2011 and last month, the KUNA news agency has reported.

According to the agency, the step is the result of a full decade of Kuwaiti efforts to address the dual nationality file, and comes as a culmination of a campaign that began last year to confront those who obtain Kuwaiti citizenship illegally. Almost 1,000 such people have been detected to date. Kuwait does not recognise dual nationality and children with dual nationality have two years after reaching the age of 18 to decide whether to retain Kuwaiti nationality or keep their other nationality.

The Director of the Situation Amendment Department in CARIRS, General Muhammad Al-Wahib, told KUNA that 6,054 residents’ status had been changed to Saudi nationality; 1,188 to Iraqi nationality; 868 to Syrian nationality; 131 to Iranian nationality; 53 to Jordanian nationality; and 1,962 to other nationalities.

Al-Wahib pointed out that these statistics include individuals who have parents or relatives who own documents from different nationalities and do not include those who have other relatives with proven nationality.

He called on those wishing to amend their status to visit CARIRS in the Eastern Region, to settle their residencies and regularise their status according to the residency laws in force in Kuwait.

The Gulf state has in recent years intensified efforts to amend the status of those residing illegally in the country.

Source: Kuwait revokes citizenship of more than 10,000 people with dual nationality

Filed under Citizenship, Dual Citizenship, Revocation Tagged with

Are noncitizens really voting in US elections?

2024/09/12 Leave a comment

Spoiler alert. This detailed review indicates they are not:

With illegal immigration one of the top issues on voters’ minds heading into the 2024 election, Republicans are making a nationwide push to require proof of citizenship in order to vote. The GOP-run House of Representatives passed a bill that would do just that, the SAVE Act, in July – with support from five Democrats.

Former President Donald Trump has also repeatedly urged such measures, including in Tuesday night’s debate, alleging that his opponents are irresponsibly encouraging undocumented immigrants to vote. “A lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they’re trying to get them to vote, they can’t even speak English, they don’t even know what country they’re in practically, and these people are trying to get them to vote,” he said.

Now Speaker Mike Johnson is saying that unless the House and Senate agree to the SAVE Act, he’ll shut down the government when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30 – though it appears he lacks the support within his own party to do so.

But Democrats, citing a lack of documented cases of noncitizen voting, say the law is unnecessary since it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote. Moreover, they argue, it would result in disqualifying eligible voters. They accuse Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, of pushing this issue to lay the groundwork for claiming the election was stolen if they lose in November.

Is proof of citizenship currently required to vote?

The short answer is, citizenship is required in federal elections, but proof of citizenship generally isn’t, although some voters may provide that while establishing their identity and residency.

Sixteen municipalities allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, according to Ballotpedia. But elsewhere there’s pushback to the idea. Amendments to bar noncitizen voting are on the ballot this fall in eight states: Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

Source: Are noncitizens really voting in US elections?

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Religious and Visible Minority Intersectionality: Education and Income

2024/09/07 Leave a comment

For the data nerds among us:

This short article continues my analysis of citizenship by examining the intersectionality between visible minorities, religious minorities and gender in terms of citizenship acquisition, education and income, 15 years old and higher.

Overall, the percentage of non-citizens is greatest among South Asian Hindus and Sikhs, likely reflecting India’s prohibition of dual citizenship. Black and Arab Muslims have higher rates of non-citizens than Christians save for Black Christian men. For the most part, being a university graduate does not appear to affect this overall pattern. None & secular have the largest median after-tax income across most visible and religious minority groups. Male non-citizens have significantly lower levels of government transfers than female non-citizens, again across most visible and religious minority groups. However, there are relatively few gender differences in poverty rates across most visible and religious minority groups.

To provide context on immigrant visible and religious minorities, Tables 1 and 2 provide the overall national and provincial percentages for all immigration periods.

Table 1 highlights the percentage of the various visible minority groups at the national and provincial levels. Overall, 53 percent are female immigrants. The higher percentage of female immigrants applies to most groups with the exception of Arabs and West Asians, where women form less than 50 percent of all immigrants.

Visible minorities form 69 percent of all immigrants but this percentage has increased to 83 percent in the most recent census period, with more Black and Filipino immigrants than Chinese, and more West Asians than Southeast Asians.

Similarly, Table 2 provides a similar breakdown for religious minorities for all immigration periods, national and provincial. Overall, women form 52 percent across all religions, with Buddhists and Christians having higher percentages of women, while Muslims being the only group with a marginally smaller percentage of women.

Religious diversity is increasing. While non-Christians formed 53 percent across all immigration periods, they formed 60 percent of immigrants in the 2016-21 census period. The percentage of Muslim immigrants has increased from 13 to 20 percent, Hindus from 6 to 11 percent, Sikhs have increased marginally from five to six percent. Both Buddhists and Jews have declined; the former from 3 to 1.5 percent, the latter from one to 0.5 percent.

Religious diversity varies among visible minority groups.

Some visible minority groups have greater religious diversity than others, notably South Asians, Blacks, Southeast Asians and to a lesser extent Arabs, West Asians and Japanese. The percentage of None & secular is highest among Chinese and Japanese. I have not included traditional given the small overall numbers and minimal numbers among visible minorities.

Table 3 highlights the overall contrast between those who have naturalized and those who remain non-citizens. Overall, the percentage of non citizens is greatest among South Asian Sikhs and Hindus, Black and Arab Muslims, Latin American and Korean None & secular, along with all religions among Japanese. The greater percentage of non-citizens among South Asian Hindus and Sikhs may reflect India’s prohibition of dual citizenship; however, China’s similar prohibition does not appear to have impacted naturalization to the same degree. Fewer women than men are naturalized among Buddhists, Southeast Asian and Korean None & secular, and all Japanese religions.

Education

Table 4 provides the population numbers by religious affiliation of visible minorities for all education levels and bachelor’s degree or higher, along with the percentage of bachelor degrees, ordered by group size. University degrees vary significantly by visible minority group, with Blacks, Latin Americans, Southeast Asians having lower rates than non visible minorities. With respect to religious minority groups, Buddhists and Sikhs have lower rates than Christians, who in turn have lower rates than Hindus, None & secular, Jewish and Muslims.

Table 5 contrasts non-citizen rates for the university educated. Highest rates for non-citizens are Japanese Buddhists and Christians, South Asian Hindus and Sikhs, followed by Black and Latin American Christians and Muslims. Overall, more women remain non-citizens than men among Buddhists, Sikhs and None & secular with exceptions for South Asian and Black women None & secular. The greatest gaps are with Southeast Asian, Korean and Japanese all major religions, and West Asian Christians.

Income: After-tax, government transfers, poverty rate

Table 6 compares median after tax income, government transfers and poverty rates by visible minority, religious minority and gender. With respect to median income, the overall pattern shows that non-citizen visible minorities, regardless of their religious affiliations, have lower median incomes than visible minority citizens, with gender varying by group. Chinese and Southeast Asian women, all religions have higher incomes than citizens, as do Arab Muslims and no religion secular.

Most racialized/religious women citizens have significantly lower median AT income save for Black Christians, Black Muslims and no religion, secular. While overall gender differences are generally small, Buddhist non-citizen women are doing relatively better than Buddhist non-citizens men and Jewish women relatively worse.

Women have higher levels of government transfers then men across all groups save West Asian Christian non-citizens, reflecting child benefits, CPP, OAS, survivor benefits, GIS supplement and possibly social assistance with the exception of traditional overall and all Japanese men, among non visible minorities, only Christian men have a lower percentage.

Table 7 compares the after-tax median income of religious minorities compared to Christians for naturalized citizens and non-citizens. Among the visible minority population, Hindu men citizens and non-citizens have higher median income than Christians, as do Jewish women citizens and Jewish men non-citizens and Arab Muslim women citizens and non-citizens. For most visible minority groups, None & secular citizens and non-citizens have higher median incomes than Christians, with the exception of South Asian women non-citizens, Black citizens and non-citizens, Chinese citizens and non-citizens, Filipino non-citizens, and Southeast Asian men citizens and all non-citizens.

The positive income gap between citizens and non-citizens is greatest for None & secular for most groups. Conversely, the positive income gap for non-citizens compared to citizens is for south Asian Hindu and Muslim men, Chinese Buddhists and None & secular, and Japanese Buddhists and None & secular.

Concluding observations

In general, visible minority group affiliation is more significant in education and income differences than religious affiliation. However, the variation within visible minority groups by religious affiliation is significant, particularly for Buddhists, Muslims and Sikhs.

Overall, the percentage of non-citizens is greatest among South Asian Hindus and Sikhs, likely reflecting India’s prohibition of dual citizenship. Black and Arab Muslims have higher rates of non-citizens than Christians save for Black Christian men. For the most part, being a university graduate does not appear to affect this overall pattern. None & secular have the largest median after-tax income across most visible and religious minority groups. Male non-citizens have significantly lower levels of government transfers than women, again across most visible and religious minority groups. However, there are relatively few gender differences in poverty rates across most visible and religious minority groups.

Just as there is diversity within visible and religious minority groups, largely reflecting country of origin, this analysis highlights the need for ongoing disaggregated data to better understand the dynamics behind immigrant integration and citizenship.

Filed under Citizenship, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

SCOTUS ruling on citizenship proof for new voters has an outsized impact for Native voters

2024/09/06 Leave a comment

Interesting wrinkle:

With the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that now requires potential voters to provide proof of citizenship with their state-created voter registration forms, Indigenous voting rights advocates want Indigenous people to know that they can still register to vote as tribal citizens.

Patty Ferguson-Bohnee said that Indigenous people living in Arizona who are enrolled in a federally recognized tribe can use their tribal identification numbers to prove their citizenship.

“As long as a tribal member is an enrolled member of their tribe, they can use that tribal ID number to register on the state form, and that will prove citizenship for purposes of voter registration,” she said, adding that it’s because all Indigenous peoples were declared citizens of the United States in 1924.

Ferguson-Bohnee is the Director of the Indian Legal Clinic and a Clinical Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. She also coordinates the Arizona Native Vote Election Protect Project, which focuses on protecting the right to vote for Indigenous voters in Arizona.

“If you prove you’re a Native American through using your enrollment number, your citizenship is verified,” she said because there is a space for Indigenous peoples to include that specific information on the state voter registration form.

“The people who are registering voters need to know that we can’t leave that blank because if you do not provide that on your state form, they will reject it,” Ferguson-Bohnee added.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 22 that Arizona can enforce part of a voter registration law being challenged in federal court, allowing the state to bar legal voters from registering weeks before the election.

Ferguson-Bohnee said the law will cause some confusion among organizations and people out in the community trying to register voters, and it may discourage voters from registering.

“The goal of the law was to create barriers to the ballot box,” she said. “And even to prevent eligible voters from registering to vote.”

Lower courts initially blocked the Arizona law in 2022, but in a 5-4 order, the Supreme Court reinstated a portion of the law that allows the state to stop accepting state-created voter registration forms from Arizona residents unless they provide proof of citizenship.

The ruling means that potential voters who register to vote in Arizona using the state-created voter registration forms will need documentation proving citizenship for the registration to be valid. If no proof is provided, the state will reject the form — without informing them.

Ferguson Bohnee said there is no option to correct the form once it gets rejected, so she suggests that people register with the federal forms first. Then, when they have all the documentation readily available, their registration can be promoted to full-ballot voters.

“It’s very discouraging because it’s making a change right in the midst of the election process when people are registering people to vote,” Ferguson-Bohnee said. “This decision by the court is revising the playing field for election law.”

Not all Indigenous peoples may have their enrollment numbers available, but that shouldn’t discourage them from trying to register to vote. Ferguson-Bohnee said that is when they should register using the federal voter registration form.

She said that registering with a federal form only requires people to affirm their citizenship, not provide document proof, so people will be registered to vote in federal elections, including the presidential and senate races.

However, Ferguson-Bohnee said that if the voter can provide documentary proof of citizenship later, their status will be moved to a full ballot voter, which includes state elections — but that has to be done the Thursday before Election Day.

The court ruling has left some voting organizations baffled about their best course of action because it disrupts the plan of action that has been in motion within Indigenous communities for months.

Arizona Native Vote Executive Director Jaynie Parrish said it has left her team in limbo.

“We’re waiting to hear more directions on what our team needs to do,” Parrish said, adding they haven’t been provided a clear path forward on how this impacts Indigenous voters in Arizona.

Source: SCOTUS ruling on citizenship proof for new voters has an outsized impact for Native voters

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USA: Ending Birthright Citizenship Is Harder Than It Sounds

2024/08/27 Leave a comment

Good analysis:

….All of this could affect birth tourism. In his last administration, Trump issued an executive order outlawing B1/B2 tourist visas for birth tourism, where an alien comes to the U.S. specifically to give birth here and “create” an American citizen, an “anchor baby,” who will file for legal status for his parents at age 21. Prior to Trump’s EO, traveling to the U.S. to give birth was fundamentally legal, although there are scattered cases of domestic authorities arresting operators of birth tourism agencies. Women abroad were often honest about their intentions when applying for visas and even showed contracts with doctors and hospitals to prove they would not become public charges.

As it stands, visitors will be denied temporary visas if it is found the “primary purpose” of their travel is to obtain citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States. The rule does not apply to the 39 countries in the Visa Waiver Program, and the State Department in implementing the EO forbids its visa officers from even asking in most cases if an applicant is pregnant, making the order hard to enforce.

“This is the first recognition that it’s not OK to use a visitor visa for the purposes of ‘birth tourism,’ so it has a symbolic strength in that respect, at the same time it’s not a very effective way at going after the ‘birth tourism’ industry,” said an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. While the federal government does not specifically track birth tourism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually publishes the number of known births in the U.S. to foreign women who reside overseas—around 10,000 such births every year for the past few years.

Source: Ending Birthright Citizenship Is Harder Than It Sounds

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McQueen: Liberals go hog wild on immigration, hoping to secure victory in 2029 and beyond

2024/08/22 Leave a comment

Once a partisan, always a partisan, in terms of how one looks at the issues, it would appear.

While certainly political considerations played a role, the increase in the number of permanent residents reflected the misguided belief that Canada needed a larger population to address an aging population and labour shortages. The increase in temporary workers responded, excessively, to business interests, and students to provincial governments and their education institutions.

And surprising, given that voting applies only to citizens, that McQueen doesn’t mention citizenship numbers. And assuming that all new Canadians favour the government of the day, reflects an earlier period and neglects the diversity among new Canadian voters.

…Consider that in 2021, Trudeau’s 5.6 million votes weren’t sufficient to secure another majority. His administration has brought in about 3.2 million new immigrants, and consciously allowed the number of temporary residents to swell to 2.8 million — a large chunk of whom have come post the 2021 election. More than any equivalent period in our history. 

One has to wonder if Trudeau has weaponized our Immigration system in an effort to build a new base of more than six million grateful future Liberal voters. What might look like “incompetence” may actually be the Liberal 2029 election strategy at work.

Source: Liberals go hog wild on immigration, hoping to secure victory in 2029 and beyond

Filed under Citizenship, Politics Tagged with ,

Government could revoke citizenship of terror suspect, immigration minister says

2024/08/16 Leave a comment

Always good to start with a timeline to determine what actions are possible. If Eldidi did misrepresent himself when apply for citizenship, then revocation is possible:

…Mr. Miller, speaking to reporters in Nova Scotia Wednesday, described himself a “disgusted as any Canadian” about the case.

He said he has asked his deputy minister to probe the timeline of Mr. Eldidi’s immigration to Canada including when they obtained permanent residency and citizenship. “Who knew what, when and how?,” Mr. Miller said.

“I hope to be able to provide answers in relatively in a relatively short timeline about what happened.”

He said Canadians “deserve answers” on the file.

“I’m also going to take the next step, which is to start the preliminary work, with the evidence at hand, to look at whether the individual in question’s citizenship should be revoked,” Mr. Miller said….

Source: Government could revoke citizenship of terror suspect, immigration minister says

Filed under Citizenship, Revocation Tagged with ,

Colby Cosh: Is a Canadian a Canadian if he first tortured prisoners for ISIS?

2024/08/16 Leave a comment

Overly simplistic characterization. One of the problems with the previous government’s legislation on post-citizenship revocation was that it allowed for “offloading” of responsibilities to other countries. The best example to date has been the UK government’s revocation of Jack Letts (“Jihadi Jack”), who was born and raised in the UK with minimal to no time in Canada.

However, as his mother is Canadian, his parents are understandably pressing Canada to take on his case. But correctly speaking, his radicalization occurred in the UK and the UK should not have “offloaded” responsibility to Canada. The Canadian government, to its credit, has not responded substantively to the various persons lobbying on his behalf.

Revocation for misrepresentation at the application stage is fully appropriate, including judicial review rather than leaving it only to the Minister. But post-citizenship, countries should assume their responsibilities which the UK has shamefully not done:

…The new government preserved the state’s pre-2015 right to cancel citizenship for “false representation or fraud” in an application, but it added a proviso for appeal by right to the Federal Court. This means that today’s immigration minister initiates the process for revocation, if he can find evidence of falsehood, but that he is no longer the ultimate decision-maker.

Miller knows all this, whether or not he is hoping you remember it. Nobody’s real concern about the latest accused Toronto terrorists is that the elder of them may have filled out a citizenship application form incorrectly, which is itself a purely speculative possibility. The minister is using the shreds of revocation powers left by (and to) his own government to give the general impression that a terrorist might lose citizenship only for terrorism. But this is a possibility that our prime minister explicitly rejected, and whose rejection he campaigned successfully on. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, even if he fought for ISIS not long before becoming a Canadian. Right?

Source: Colby Cosh: Is a Canadian a Canadian if he first tortured prisoners for ISIS?

Filed under Citizenship, Revocation Tagged with

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