Crimmigration: Criminalization and Detention of Non-Citizens in Canada
Tues Mar 18th, 1230-2pm
VC 215 - Old Vic College
A panel featuring:
- Barbara Jackman: leading immigration/human rights lawyer who has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in major national security and immigration law cases
- Stephanie Silverman, Research Associate, Detention and Asylum Research Cluster, Refugee Research Network
- Deepan Budlakoti, Canadian citizen and former detainee who is currently fighting deportation (see http://www.justicefordeepan.org for more info)
Moderated by: Audrey Macklin, U of T law professor specializing in immigration and refugee law, as well as criminal and administrative law
Since 2004, over 95,000 immigrants have been detained in Canada. The Canadian government's increasing use of criminal law in the immigration law realm has led to the detention of thousands of asylum seekers, permanent residents, and other non-citizens. Hundreds currently sit in immigration detention centers or max-security prisons, with no indication of when they will be released. Some have been held for more than a decade, caught in limbo between Canada's (claimed) inability to deport them, and unwillingness to release them on ambiguously defined grounds, such as "national security."
What is the legal regime governing immigration detention in Canada? What challenges have been brought – both in the courts, and on the streets? Join us for a discussion with legal practitioners, researchers, and community members on this disturbing trend in Canadian immigration law.
A light lunch will be served.
For more information, please contact Sofia Ijaz (sofia.ijaz@utoronto.ca) or Nabila Qureshi (nabila.qureshi@utoronto.ca)
*This event is co-sponsored by U of T's Muslim Law Students Association.
03.11.14/12.23
