Convention refugees are persons who are outside their home country or the country where they normally live, and who are unwilling to return to that country because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, public opinion or membership in a particular social group. A social group can be: A group someone is […]
Immigration is now a hot topic in major news media in the United States and various politicians and commentators are speaking out against President Donald Trump’s stringent laws with respect to the deportation of all undocumented immigrants in that country, totaling nearly 13 million. Is this a humanitarian way of dealing with the undocumented? This […]
Everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance. But not everyone gets it. Mike ( not his real name) from Trinidad is one of the fortunate ones who got that second chance. Let us look this week at the story of Mike who was convicted in a Canadian court of drug trafficking, an indictable offence […]
An open letter to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Dear Minister Hussen, Let me congratulate you on your appointment as Minster of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. As I am sure you are aware, your appointment has been greeted with elation in many communities across Canada. In your own Somalian community in Toronto, there […]
Ahmed Hussen, the first Somali-Canadian elected to the House of Commons and MP for the Toronto riding of York South-Weston, replaced John McCallum as minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship in a cabinet shakeup on Tuesday. McCallum, a former bank economist, leaves a 16-year political career as the MP for Markham-Thornhill to become Canada’s ambassador […]
Alan and Alice – not their real names – are a Jamaica-born British couple who traveled from their home in the United Kingdom to Canada from time to time to visit their daughter and her two Canadian-born children in Toronto. While these visits to Canada brought great joy to the couple, all too soon they […]
Immigration Matters A Chinese family fled their home in Guyana in 2015 and came to Canada claiming protection from criminals. Their claims were turned down by both Canada’s Refugee Protection Division and the Refugee Appeal Division which found that they were neither Convention refugees nor persons in need of protection in Canada. But the story […]
For many people from the Caribbean, the road to permanent residence in Canada is a long and difficult one. Unfortunately, some who set their sights on legally remaining in Canada are unsuccessful in achieving their objective. But for others who are prepared for ” the long haul,” there is sometimes light at the end of […]
Last week I received a letter from a woman who found herself in what appears to be a bigamous relationship and would like to obtain permanent resident status in Canada through sponsorship. Her situation is not as uncommon as many of my readers may believe. I have heard of several cases of married men from […]
By W. Andy Knight Someone on Social media posted that 9/11 was the worst day in America, and that the 2nd worst day was 11/9. On November 9, many of us woke up as though we had a hangover and as though we were kicked in the gut the night before. What we witnessed on […]
