Sign the petition at  https://www.change.org/p/translink-and-transit-police-stop-turning-public-transit-into-a-border-checkpoint

After working a night shift at a Vancouver hotel, Mexican migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez rode the SkyTrain home on December 1st, 2012. At approximately 10 a.m, Transit Police boarded her train. They stopped Jimenez because she couldn’t provide proof of payment, but racial profiling escalated the situation and Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) was called in.

“I understood that she had an accent when I spoke with her,” Transit Police Constable Jason Schuss later testified. “With that, I could tell she wasn’t originally from Canada.” Three weeks after he turned Jimenez over to CBSA for deportation, she committed suicide in-custody.
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en español

We have been hearing about an increased number of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) raids at workplaces around the Lower Mainland. Over the past month we have received phone calls from Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey and East Vancouver about CBSA visits and raids at workplaces. People within prisons have also called, saying “the prison is getting busier” and “there are lots of people in and out,” suggesting greater CBSA enforcement, detention and deportation to meet ‘quotas’ as the year’s end nears.

For those in our communities who are at risk of CBSA enforcement, let us know if and how we can support you in staying safe. For anyone who witnesses CBSA vehicles or CBSA inland enforcement teams, please contact us. If you work in a workplace where you know of undocumented workers, please ask how best to support in case of a CBSA raid (safe exits, emergency contacts etc). We are deeply troubled and angered and saddened by these raids and invite others to join in the movement to end CBSA enforcement in our communities.

In struggle,
No one Is Illegal and Sanctuary Health
Phone: 778 885 0040 and 604 315 7725
Email: noii-van@resist.ca and sanctuaryhealthvancouver@gmail.com

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On International Migrants Day Thursday December 18th at 10 am at the YWCA (733 Beatty Street), Mexican community members, LGBT refugee groups, human rights organizations, and legal experts are calling on the federal government to remove Mexico from the “Designated Countries of Origin” refugee list.

With speakers
– Karla Lottini: Mexican refugee and journalist, member of No One Is Illegal
– Laura Track: Lawyer and Executive Director of West Coast LEAF
– Gil Aguilar: Migrant Workers Dignity Association and Make Mexico Safe
campaign
– Chris Morrisey: Founder of Rainbow Refugee Committee and winner of
Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal

A petition to remove Mexico from the designated countries of origin list has gathered over 1200 signatures. The petition states, “Given the recent suicide of Mexican migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez in a Canadian detention center and the current crisis in Ayotzinapa-Guerrero, it is clear that Mexico is not safe for refugees. I want you to remove Mexico from the list of safe countries immediately.”

Petition link: https://www.change.org/p/conservative-government-remove-mexico-from-the-refugee-list-of-safe-countries

Since the Conservative government’s implementation of the Refugee Exclusion Act in 2012, Mexico and forty other countries have been placed on this list. Refugee claimants from these countries face a different legal system and have fewer rights. This enables Canada to fast-tracks deportations to these countries.
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Check Your Head is a youth-driven nonprofit organization working with young people to take action for social & environmental justice.  Working together with No One Is Illegal, a grassroots anti-colonial migrant justice group with leadership from members of migrant and/or racialized backgrounds, we are excited to announce a new workshop – and we’re looking for volunteer facilitators!

How can I get involved?

We’re looking for youth with direct experience of migration and migrant issues to lead workshops with school and community groups. In addition to leading workshops, volunteers will also take part in a weekend of facilitation training. Youth of all genders, abilities, backgrounds, of any status, and LGBT2IQ folks are encouraged to apply. You must be available January 24 & 25th to participate in a mandatory facilitation training.

Send a statement of interest (max. 500 words) to aleks@checkyourhead.org by noon on January 2nd.
Tell us why you’re passionate about migrant justice, and what issues are important to you!