Migrant dignity, not migrant death!

Sign and share: http://chn.ge/1kavtbV

To:
Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety
Barb McLintock, BC Coroners Service
Lisa Lapointe, Chief Coroner
Luc Portelance, President of CBSA
Roslyn MacVicar, Pacific Regional Director CBSA
John Dyck, Metro Vancouver District Director CBSA
Wayne Easter, Public Safety Critic
Randall Garrison, Public Safety Critic
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Immediately order a full, transparent, independent civilian inquiry & investigation into the death of Lucia Vega Jimenez while under CBSA custody. We need independent civilian oversight & a comprehensive review of migrant detention policies. Cruel and punitive conditions of migrant detention, such as indefinite detention, as well as the new Refugee Exclusion Act that permits mandatory detention and a two-tier refugee system, must end.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

A nonstatus low-income father of three died the first week of January 2014. He lived in the Lower Mainland for over twenty years, but deemed ‘illegal’ and without a work permit he was forced to work in the street economy. His three children were born in Canada, and are working and attending university. A few years ago he was diagnosed with a chronic health condition for which he received emergency healthcare, but was prevented from accessing full treatment due to his lack of legal status.

Last year, with the Tory government’s implementation of the drastic Interim Federal Health cuts to refugee healthcare, he faced even greater life-threatening risk. In the words of his daughter, who predicted that “Bill C-31 will kill my father.” No One Is Illegal organized and fought alongside him and his family and he won temporary status which reinstated medical treatment, but it was too late as his health had already deteriorated drastically. He passed away on January 8, 2014 and his service was held on January 25, 2014.

MIGRANT DIGNITY, NOT MIGRANT DEATHS!

(en español abajo)

Yesterday we confirmed the news of Lucia Vega Jimenez’s death while under Canadian Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) custody. Migrant communities and activists are still reeling from the news of this tragic and shameful death and we send our prayers, rage and condolences to her family members and loved ones.

WHAT CAN I DO?

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1415165535395741/

1) If you have one minute, please sign and share this petition:
https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/steven-blaney-order-a-full-transparent-and-independent-civilian-inquiry-and-investigation-into-lucia-s-death#

and this image on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=500023813448000

2) If you have five more minutes, please call these numbers directly to pressure for an independent investigation and an end to cruel and punitive conditions of migrant detention.

Lisa Lapointe, Chief Coroner: 604 660-7745
Barb McLintock, BC Coroners Service: 250-356-9253
Steven Blaney, Public Safety Minister: 613-944-4875 or 613-992-7434
Roslyn MacVicar, Pacific Regional Director CBSA: 604-666-0760
John Dyck, Metro Vancouver District Director CBSA: 604-775-6790

3) If you have a few hours to come honour the life of Lucia Vega Jimenez and to demand justice, come out on Friday January 31, 2014 at 5:30 pm in front of CBSA offices at 300 West Georgia for a vigil and community gathering by community members, No One Is Illegal, and Latin American Committee for Refugees and Migrant Justice.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1415165535395741/

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Thank you all for marking TEN years of grassroots anti-colonial migrant justice organizing with us. Our anniversary was a moving and powerful and memorable event and none one of this would be possible or sustainable without our broader movements and communities. With deepest gratitude to all of you for your support, encouragement, participation, leadership and feedback over the past decade. We look forward to rising together in more years of struggle and liberation as we strive for the right to remain, the freedom to move, and the right to return.

Photos from NOII’s ten year anniversary:

Flickr set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/sets/72157638827007444/

Facebook album:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.478248832292165.1073741831.153945524722499&type=1

Photos courtesy: Caelie Frampton, Sid Tan, Gurpreet Singh, Charlotte Kates, Ancestral Pride, Audrey Siegl and Magin Payet Scudalleri.

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By Shireen Soofi on December 18, 2013

On International Migrants Day, my heart feels heavy but beats strongly for the immense resilience of countless individuals crossing borders that rip apart families, and deny the building and rebuilding of home.

I am reminded by the “local” sign on the fruit stand of the migrant workers who feed us and the strong women who care for elders and children but are denied minimum wage, limited work hours and the benefits of “citizenship” after years of work, life and even government taxes.

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