In the afternoon of August 30th, international students and migrant workers set up tents on the Bramrose Square lawn in Brampton. They had banners with their slogan, “Good enough to work, good enough to stay” and signs that read, “Foreign workers contribute, they don’t cause crises.” This encampment comes after threats of mass deportation and policy changes that could ruin migrant workers’ and international students’ lives. As of September 12th, they have been camping there for 14 days.
The migrant experience
Multiple campers say that they migrated to Canada because they were promised reasonable pathways to Permanent Residency (PR), only to discover a system that “uses [them] and throws [them] away.” One camper, whose work permit expires next month, shared that he came here because after four years of full-time work, he would be eligible for PR status. However, he was given a work permit that only lasts for three years, and now that he has been working full-time for that length, he faces deportation when his permit expires in less than two weeks. This experience was shared by many other campers.
These campers shared their stories of facing exploitation at the hands of employers and immigration agents, such as being paid below the minimum wage in order to receive sponsorship or even having to pay for a Labour Market Impact Assessment permit out of pocket. These migrants are struggling to pay their bills under their illegal wages, but they have run out of options. They cannot face their employers without status security, and their employers know this, using it to extort migrants into worse and worse working conditions.
The bilateral scapegoating of migrant workers
This year, government officials have been using new right-wing rhetoric regarding migrant workers. Even the Liberals, a party that is nominally pro-migrant, has regressed to anti-migrant rhetoric in order to gain more (or lose fewer) votes in the upcoming elections. According to the Angus Reid institute, Canadians think immigration is the fifth most important issue facing Canadians, after the cost of living crisis, healthcare, housing affordability, and climate change. Seeing as the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties are both unwilling to crack down on the main four issues, they instead focus on immigration.
New policies reducing the amount of student and worker visas are making migrant workers scared of deportation. The Trudeau government has stopped granting as many Post Graduate Work Permits as before, and is obfuscating the Permanent Residency application process on purpose. Even conservative estimates put the number of people at risk of deportation at 70,000, with other estimates reaching as high as 130,000.
How to help
The encampment is asking for more people to show solidarity and attend in person. They provide food, chai, and blankets for anyone who wants to join. After dinner, they also provide a microphone for people with similar stories or interesting perspectives. Some nights, upwards of 120 people show up for prayer and speeches held in English, Punjabi, and Hindi. They don’t turn people away, so perspectives from all walks of life are heard.
At the encampment, during an open discussion after dinner, one camper asked for a good answer to conservatives who say migrants are not entitled to tell the Canadian government what to do. Some campers pointed out that Canada has all these migrants here because they needed them. The reason immigration spiked after COVID is because Canada needed front-line workers. Now that the Canadian government feels like they have outstayed their welcome, migrant workers feel tossed aside.
When asked how long they think the protest will last, one of the organizers compared it to the 2020-21 Farmers protest in India. He says, “That protest lasted a year. We will go as long as we need to, but we hope the government will do the right thing sooner rather than later.”
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