Solidarity Across Borders

While our comrades in the so-called United States are gaining well-deserved traction for their resistance against ICE, Solidarity Across Borders (SAB) wants to highlight the atrocities committed by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). Violent border control is inherent to genocidal settler colonies like the United States and Canada. While it might be tempting to convince ourselves that Canada is an exception to brutal state-sanctioned violence against migrants, it couldn’t be further from the truth. ...

Kevin, we are so sorry that after a life marked by state violence, you were deported. We had the potential to stop this violent deportation, and we didn’t show up sufficiently. As a movement, we need to do better. Sunday morning, Kevin was deported to Haiti. Because of some public attention, Immigration Minister Marc Miller reviewed his file, but refused to intervene. Words cannot begin to describe how violent this deportation is. Kevin came to Canada at the age of three and was soon forced into the child “protection” system. He was abused and traumatized by that system, and will suffer the consequences for the rest of his life. One of these consequences was his criminalization, and his experience of the full weight of the racist, anti-Black, colonial, penal system. Not satisfied with incarcerating this black man, the Canadian state then started proceedings to deport him to Haiti, a country to which he has few ties, having left at the age of three. Moreover, after centuries of Northern imperial interference, Haiti is now so unstable that even Canada has suspended deportations to this country – except, of course, for people it has criminalized. And so, Kevin was forced to leave his home and deported to Haiti Sunday morning. ...

A coalition of non-profit groups who work on refugee issues are organizing a march in the coming days as an act of protest against the Safe Third Country Agreement. We wanted to take the time to share it with you here, in a spirit of critical solidarity. We know the organizers of the march have been working incredibly hard on this action, and too many of our members have known first-hand the violence inflicted by the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). ...

Montreal, 11 June 2023 – The Solidarity Across Borders network has noticed an increase in people being called in to CBSA offices to start deportation proceedings in Montreal. In addition, in the past weeks, we are aware of two incidents in which the CBSA (the border police) came to the homes of undocumented community members. They were both under arrest warrants for not having shown up for their deportation. CBSA somehow found their addresses and went to their homes to arrest them. ...

Since the opening of a new prison for migrants in Laval Quebec in October of 2022, we’ve been consistently hearing from detainees about the terrible conditions. In-person visits have been suspended, while detainees are blocked from accessing their medication, have complained of being served rotten food, and many have continued to see their mental health spiral. All this in a brand new facility, that the federal government touted as a “more humane” form of detention. Now more than ever, it is clear that detention can never be “humane”, and only ending the practice of immigration detention in its entirety can put an end to these abuses. ...

A sudden extension: Without any warning, at 12:01am last Saturday, the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) was extended to cover the entire 9,000 kilometer border between the US and Canada. Deportation without any process: Under the STCA, any migrant caught crossing on foot or via waterway without a visa can be deported without any processing. Those who were coming via Roxham Road in Quebec are now being deported. ...

Month of Action Against the Migrant Prison. August 1-31, 2022. Despite years of concerted opposition, construction is nearly complete on the new migrant prison in Laval. If it opens, it will maintain and expand the government’s capacity to detain, surveil and deport migrants. It will also serve to force migrants to remain in exploitative working and living conditions. This August, Solidarity Across Borders will be holding a month of action to oppose the migrant prison, as well as to demand an end to all prisons. Join us for a series of workshops, film screenings, and demonstrations to assert: the only alternative to detention is status for all! ...

Last Sunday, January 30th, we were enraged and deeply saddened to learn of yet another death at the Laval immigration detention center. We do not have any information about the person who lost their life while in custody of the Canadian Border Services Agency. All we know is that they were a migrant detained for administrative purposes: ie. for not having papers. This person should never have been detained in the first place, and now they are gone. No one should ever be detained. ...

Montreal CBSA offices were shut down on August 30th in honour of Mr. Bolante Idowu Alo and of our friends, family members and neighbours who have been deported. Migrant justice activists blocked and chained all doors to the building and employees were not able to enter the building to carry on their work for two hours. We want to ensure that business could not go on as usual. Mr. Bolante Idowu Alo died violently at the hands of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA): we cannot let them carry on as though nothing has happened. We call on our communities to not only condemn this outrageous violence but take action to stop it from happening again. ...

Refugees Welcome Caravan Wraps Up 3 Days of Outreach in Border Region from Coaticook to Huntingdon Canada Day Action Signs bearing the words “CROSSING HERE due to (un)Safe Third Country Agreement. Still on unceded indigenous lands” were placed at five different sites along the Canada-US border early morning on Canada Day. Photos: https://bit.ly/2tZJR2I [Facebook album] There are multiple sites similar to Roxham Road every few kilometers along Quebec’s border with the United States. In addition to sending a message of support to refugees and migrants who are crossing irregularly from the United States, this action was meant to encourage people living in the area to actively support them – to open minds and hearts, and, in a very literal sense, to Open the Borders. ...

In the past year, tens of thousands of people have entered Canada from the US on foot, seeking a safe haven. Every day more people are arriving. This phenomenon is often referred to Trump, but it must be understood in the global context: worldwide, more than 21 million people have been forced to leave their homes because of wars, political oppression, military violence, extractivism, climate change, etc. – conditions created by imperialist states like Canada and the United States. Although directly involved in the economic and social devastation in countries throughout the Middle East, Latin America, Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, the Canadian state presumes to limit who can enter and who can legally stay.Rejecting the racist and islamophobic mainstream narrative and media coverage around those migrating, Solidarity Across Borders calls for open borders, radical solidarity with and mutual aid among migrants, solidarity cities, an end to deportation, immigration detention and double punishment, and an inclusive and ongoing regularization process (Status For All, now!). ...