Elise Hjalmarson, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)
COVID-19 may not discriminate, but Canadian policy does. Income support during the pandemic must be extended to everyone, including migrant and undocumented workers.
Different groups in society can suffer from social distancing practices. That includes higher risk of domestic violence, child abuse and mental health problems.
Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Immigrants from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania constitute less than 1% of terrorism cases in the United States, and none of the cases in the last two years.
During the Nazi era, roughly 300,000 additional Jewish refugees could have gained entry to the US. But the immigration law’s ‘likely to become a public charge’ clause kept them out.
Canadian leaders have desperately tried to preserve the country’s image of liberal humanitarianism at our border, but the reality is Canada’s immigration history is built upon exclusion.
Forty years ago, the Canadian government applied its new program for private sponsorship of refugees allowing Canada to welcome the largest number of Southeast Asian refugees in the world.
The US Constitution is supposed to protect freedom of religion. But in the 20th century, white Christian nationalists used this ideal to discriminate against Jews and justify their exclusion.
As more people of color move to the suburbs, they might not find the full range of opportunities that white European ethnic groups did for most of the previous century.
The informal sector represents an opportunity to improve the lives of a large part of the workforce. Government should desist from harming livelihoods and broaden the scope of policy measures.