Down with Racist attacks against Migrants: Yes to Regularization! No to the Safe Third Country Agreement! Here to stay!
Saturday, February 21 at 2 p.m.
Ministry of Immigration of Quebec
1200 Saint-Laurent Boulevard (Saint-Laurent metro station)
Family-friendly: bring your children!
Everyone is welcome at our demonstrations, especially people with precarious immigration status. We are aware of the fear and real risks faced by undocumented migrants and we try to organize our demonstrations in a way that is as safe as possible for everyone. If you are afraid to attend because of your status, please contact us and we can discuss.
Join us in front of the Quebec Ministry of Immigration (MIFI) offices in Montreal to denounce the rise of xenophobia in Quebec and its long list of anti-immigrant policies: the closure of Roxham Road to refugees in transit to the United States, the interminable delays for CSQs (required for regularization in Quebec) for undocumented immigrants, the suspension of family sponsorship programs, cuts to social programs for refugee families, the end of pilot projects for working class temporary foreign workers, the end of the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ), and the hardening anti-immigrant rhetoric. These policies plunge migrants into even more desperate situations of exploitation and precarity in Quebec’s fields, factories, and hospitals. We reject these violent attacks and unite to demand permanent status for all. We fight for our freedom to exist, to move, and to stay, in all dignity and equality.
Solidarity Across Borders has been fighting for migrant justice for over 20 years in Tiohtiake/Montreal, and the PEQ saga is nothing new for those newly arrived in so-called Quebec. From those who don’t share “Quebec values” to the guardian angels of the pandemic, the CAQ has seized every opportunity to deify or demonize immigrants for electoral gain. Most recently, the noise made by the CAQ leadership candidates and Minister Roberge over the PEQ grandfather clause demonstrates just how performative and unpopular their populist tactics are. Their ridiculous management of immigration has real and devastating consequences for many people, regardless of the migration paths open to them. Unfortunately, a grandfather clause will not stop the invisibilization or criminalization of people with precarious and temporary status by governments. We must understand the issue of precarious migration holistically. It is imperative that we unite in solidarity with all undocumented and precarious migrants to demand an inclusive regularization program and permanent residency for all. Everyone deserves dignity, not because of our skills, but because we are human beings first and foremost.
We call on all people with legal status to oppose the anti-migrant measures and rhetoric of their governments. We call on our allies to reject the “good” and “bad” migrant narratives that reinforce global apartheid and the brutal border system.
Together in solidarity, strong and proud, let us unite to demand a continuous and inclusive program of full regularization for all undocumented and precarious status migrants, as well as an end to the Safe Third Country Agreement.