[Wamvan] Updated: Supper in solidarity with immigrants and refugees

Wed Nov 21 01:37:16 PST 2012

Thanks for sharing this, Harsha.

My latest column for Herizons magazine is about Canada's increasingly
anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies.

http://joannachiu.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/canadas-closed-door-policy/

I hope to follow up with another article or column soon focusing on
refugees' struggles in Canada. Can I contact you later for an interview,
Harsha?

Best,

Joanna

On Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 6:48 AM, Harsha W. <harsha at resist.ca> wrote:

>
> Community Supper in solidarity with immigrants and refugees
> with the Figueroa family as special guests.
>
> Monday November 26, 2012. Doors at 6:00 pm
> Grandview Calvary Baptist Church
> 1803 East 1st Ave (just east of Commercial Drive)
> Dinner and Childcare provided. By donation (no one turned away).
>
> Please join us for a community supper to highlight the particular struggle
> of the Figueroa family - including their Canadian-born children - who are
> facing deportation to El Salvador after having resided in Canada for
> fifteen years. To learn more about the Figueroa family:
> http://wearejose.wordpress.com/
>
> ---------------------------
> Program update:
> ---------------------------
>
> * Doors at 6 pm.
> * Dinner served by 6:10 pm.
>
> Program featuring:
> * Figueroa family
> * Daisy Chen of NOII and Sanctuary Health on current immigration issues
> * Performances by Hari Alluri, Ruby Smith Diaz, and Cecily Nicholson
> * Caroline N. Chingcuanco and Kim Villagante of Social Justice Art in
> support of Jose Figueroa
> * Maryam Adrangi of Rising Tide and CoC on the current austerity, and
> anti-environmental/land defense agenda in the context of the War on Terror
> * Hamoudi, a Palestinian refugee will be speaking about the current
> Israeli attacks on Gaza, as well his personal struggle to remain in
> Canada.
>
> * Followed by breakout discussions at 7:30 pm, including:
> - How you can get involved with the We are Jose campaign and Sanctuary
> Health - Button-making with NOII and art table by Social Justice Art
> - Strategizing concrete next steps and actions with NOII
> - How can we build bridges between environmental justice and migrant
> justice organizing with Ananda Tan of Rising Tide
> - Discussions on growing the migrant justice movement: building solidarity
> with those who are directly affected, countering growing anti-migrant
> sentiments, and expanding spaces of resistance and sanctuary.
>
> The situation of the Figueroa family is part of a frightening anti-refugee
> trend in Canada that includes increasing deportations, mandatory
> detentions including for some children, fatal cuts to refugee health care,
> a two tier refugee system with discrimination based on nationality, and
> so-called safe country lists making it harder for queer refugees.
>
> The condition for immigrants is also rapidly deteriorating with a
> moratorium on parent and grandparent sponsorships, heightened anti-terror
> and security measures, the unilateral cancellation of 300,000 immigration
> applications, stripping thousands of citizens of their citizenship,
> implementation of a niqab ban at citizenship ceremonies, slashing the
> quota for live-in caregivers to become permanent residents by almost 50
> percent, conditional permanent residence for spouses that places women at
> increased risk for spousal and partner abuse, and over $50 million in cuts
> to immigrant services.
>
> All of these changes are paralleled by an exponential increase in
> temporary migrant workers, who can legally be paid 15 percent less than
> the prevailing wage. The number of migrant workers, who have no rights to
> permanent residency and are constantly exploited for their labour, is up
> 30 percent. This is a model of temporariness; Canada is ensuring that
> migrants have no permanent rights of residency including family
> reunification, and instead migrants are recruited primarily as indentured
> labour for big business. Hundreds of refugees languish behind bars, while
> hundreds of thousands of temporary workers and non-status people toil in
> fields and factories.
>
> Meanwhile, Canada continues to support policies of global militarism and
> intervention, including in Iran, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Haiti, as
> well as negotiating economic trade agreements with Colombia, China, EU,
> India, Tanzania, and Israel that facilitates corporate plundering,
> environmental degradation, and displacement of people from their lands,
> homes, and livelihoods. Under the guise of both the ‘War on Terror’ and
> ‘Austerity’, there is a rush to secure borders, expand the prison and
> military, cut and privatize public services, extract and commodify natural
> resources especially on Indigenous lands, and exploit labour.
>
> Please join us on November 26th to continue to organize and raise
> awareness around unjust immigration and refugee policies and their painful
> impacts within our communities.
>
> Accessibility info: Grandview Calvary Baptist Church’s kitchen’s entrance
> is at street level, which gives access to washrooms, kitchen and lower
> hall. The women’s washroom has a stall that can accommodate a wheelchair.
> The washroom door opening is 86 cm, and the stall door is 61 cm.
>
>
> Organized by No One Is Illegal-Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
> www.nooneisillegal.org
> www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork
> www.twitter.com/nooneisillegal
>
>
>
> --
> Harsha Walia
>
> https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
> https://www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork
>
>
>
> --
> Harsha Walia
>
> https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
> https://www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork
> _______________________________________________
> Wamvan mailing list
> Wamvan at lists.resist.ca
> https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/wamvan
>

-- 
---
 Joanna Chiu
www.joannachiu.com <http://www.joannachiu.com%20/>
twitter.com/joannachiu
Ph: 5115 8253
WAM! Vancouver <http://www.wamvancouver.wordpress.com%20/>
<http://twitter.com/joannachiu>
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