Our Team in the Media
Jacqueline Swaisland – Ethiopian spy eligible to apply for refugee status, court rules, despite agency’s targeting of dissidents abroad
A former member of an Ethiopian spy agency that targeted that country’s journalists and dissidents abroad is eligible to apply for refugee status in Canada because his spy activities were “not contrary to Canada’s interests,” the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled. Medhanie Weldemariam, who ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen-Palestinians face red tape, delays in applications to come to Canada, families here say
The federal government is facing mounting criticism over an immigration program that’s meant to reunite Canadians and permanent residents with their relatives who are trapped in Gaza. People trying to bring their loved ones here, and the lawyers representing them, say the program is restrictive, ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen-Canada’s controversial ban on adoptions from several Muslim countries sparks court challenge
A major challenge of Canada's ban on adoptions from several Muslim countries is set to play out in the Federal Court — a move some legal observers say wouldn't be necessary if the government wasn't upholding what they call a "discriminatory" policy. The case, which could be heard as early ...
Jacqueline Swaisland- The Supreme Court just reined in the scope of a Canadian security law. Refugee advocates are praising the ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada has imposed a limit on the power of immigration officials and government tribunals to remove foreign nationals with no criminal convictions on security grounds. In a unanimous judgment released on Wednesday, the country’s highest court says if Canada is going to ...
Jacqueline Swaisland- SCC applies Vavilov standard of review framework; overturns FCA on immigration inadmissibility
Applying the Vavilov standard of review framework, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 8-0 that non-citizens can be found inadmissible to Canada and deported under the s. 34(1)(e) “security grounds” provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) only if the non-citizen’s alleged violent conduct had a ...
Erin Simpson-SCC rules Safe 3rd Country Agreement with U.S. doesn’t infringe asylum seekers’ Charter s. 7 rights
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 8-0 that a regulatory provision designating the United States as a “safe third country” to which most asylum seekers arriving at the Canada-U.S. border can safely be returned to make their refugee claims is not ultra vires nor an infringement ...
Erin Simpson-Human Rights Groups on SCC Ruling of Safe Third Country Agreement
On Parliament Hill, three human rights organizations respond to the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement. The top court has ruled that the agreement recognizing the two countries as safe places for asylum seekers is constitutional.Taking ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Students duped by immigration scams face deportation
The Current with Matt Galloway Hundreds of international students from India have been threatened with deportation after their original offers to study in Canada turned out to be fake. We discuss what might happen next, and what needs to happen to protect students from immigration ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Suspend the US-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement to Restore Orderly Migration
Warda Shazadi Meighen is an immigration partner at Landings LLP and an adjunct professor of refugee law at the University of Toronto. Until 2004, when the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement was signed, asylum seekers could enter Canada in an orderly manner by presenting themselves at an ...
Jonathan Porter- Falling between the cracks of cornerstones: Challenging the detention of asylum seekers on identity grounds
Immigration detention on the grounds of identity is not novel in international law – many states reserve the right to detain foreign nationals where their identity is unknown. Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) permits Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to detain foreign nationals ...
Erin Simpson- They came to Canada, were in child protection, but never got legal immigration status. Now advocates are speaking up
Raised by his great-grandmother in the Dominican Republic, Fili has few memories of his parents or his sister and two brothers, who were both murdered. When his only caregiver died, the young boy, then about 10, moved in with friends he met on the streets ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Asylum seekers face a long journey to freedom along Roxham Road
It seems like an unremarkable site. A temporary building made of corrugated steel. A single white pillar outside, marking the official line between two countries. But for the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have made the journey to that site over the past ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Calls to shut down the Roxham Road border crossing
The Current with Matt Galloway Thousands of asylum seekers enter Canada through Roxham Road in Quebec each year, but calls to close the unofficial border crossing are growing. Matt Galloway talks to Lovejoyce Amavi, a refugee and author who crossed at Roxham Road in 2017; ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Alleged Chinese police stations indication of wider ‘bullying, intimidation’ tactics, experts say
As allegations of five Chinese police stations located in Canada, including one in Vancouver, B.C., raise concerns of political interference, experts say the role of Chinese intelligence is far more widespread. Earlier this month, a friendship society in Richmond was visited by RCMP officers after ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – COVID-19 front-line worker and her family face deportation to Mexico
The Current with Matt Galloway Claudia Zamorano spent the pandemic working as a housekeeper in a COVID-19 ward in a B.C. hospital — but now she and her family face deportation to Mexico within weeks. She tells Matt Galloway her story; and we hear more ...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Afghans who worked on Canadian-funded projects feel abandoned waiting for refuge in Pakistan
A group of Afghans who worked on Canadian-funded projects intended to promote the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan say they are now stuck in neighbouring Pakistan and running out of money for food and rent, more than a year after they thought they would be ...
Recent Developments
Recent Decisions
Toscano Rosales v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 553 In Toscano Rosales v. Canada (MCI) Justice Kane examined the Applicant’s Refugee Protection Division (RPD) decision. The Applicant’s father was appointed as sheriff in the Totonicapán region of Guatemala, where he worked with vulnerable youth to curb ...
Recent Decisions
De Oliveira v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 495 In De Oliveira v. Canada (MCI) Justice Fuhrer reviewed the Applicant’s Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) decision. The Applicant had originally applied for permanent residence under the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada class. However, due to the ...
Recent Decisions
Mvana c. Canada (MCI) 2024 CAF 49 In Mvana c. Canada (MCI) Justices de Montigny C.J., Boivin and Roussel JJ.A. assessed the Appellant’s Federal Court decision (2023 FC 329). The Federal Court had dismissed the Appellant’s judicial review of an Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) decision. ...
Recent Decisions
Cardenas Medina c. Canada (MCI) 2024 CF 388 In Cardenas Medina c. Canada (MCI) Justice Gascon examined the Applicants’ Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The Applicants (a husband, wife, and their minor children) sought asylum in Canada due to alleged risk of persecution in Columbia ...
Recent Decisions
Nazhmetdinov v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 389 In Nazhmetdinov v. Canada (MCI) Justice Strickland examined the Applicant’s Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) decision. The Applicant was an Uzbek, holding Russian citizenship, and a Muslim. He arrived in Canada in 2017, and sought asylum based on his ...
Recent Decisions
Al-Maflehi v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 297 In Al-Maflehi v. Canada (MCI) Justice Heneghan examined the Applicant’s inadmissibility finding pursuant to s. 34(1)(f) of IRPA. The Applicant was a citizen of Yemen who applied for permanent residence in Canada in 2015. The Applicant was interviewed, ...
Recent Decisions
Kuka v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 209 In Kuka v. Canada (MCI) Justice Favel examined the Applicant’s refused Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) and Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) application decisions, made by the same Senior Immigration Officer. The Applicant feared persecution from her and her ex-fiancé’s ...
Recent Decisions
Torres v. Canada (MPSEP) 2024 CanLII 7632 In Torres v. Canada (MPSEP) Justice Southcott examined the Applicant’s stay of removal request. The Applicant claimed asylum in Canada, in part due to his bisexual orientation. Unfortunately, the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) rejected his claim, finding that ...
Recent Decisions
Munir v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 153 In Munir v. Canada (MCI) Justice Tsimberis assessed the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The RAD determined that the Applicant failed to a) establish his bisexuality; b) that he was ever in a same-sex relationship; c) that ...
Recent Decisions
Abdallah Elnour El Senoussi c. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 74 In Abdallah Elnour El Senoussi c. Canada (MCI) Justice Pentney examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant, a citizen of Chad, was granted refugee status in 2012 and secured permanent resident status in 2015. The ...
Recent Decisions
Gayle v. Canada (MCI) 2024 FC 29 In Gayle v. Canada (MCI) Justice Turley examined the Applicant’s Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) decision. The Applicant was a Jamaican national who entered Canada in 2019 to help care for her daughter. The child’s father was deceased. In ...
Recent Decisions
Porosh v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1638 In Porosh v. Canada (MCI) Justice Go examined the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The Applicant sought asylum on the basis of alleged danger due to a land disputed between his family and a family who was ...
Recent Decisions
Taji v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1587 In Taji v. Canada (MCI), Justice Norris examined the Applicant’s cessation decision. The Applicant was a citizen of Iran who had successfully claimed asylum in 2011 and obtained permanent residence in 2012. Shortly after obtaining permanent residence, the ...
Recent Decisions
Abkarovicova v. Canada (MPSEP) 2023 FC 1546 In Abkarovicova v. Canada (MPSEP), Justice Southcott examined the Applicants’ vacation decision. The principal applicant (PA) and her children were citizens of Slovakia. At the time of the original refugee determination, all three children were minors. The Applicants ...
Recent Decisions
Canada (MPSEP) v. Ewen 2023 FCA 225 In Canada (MPSEP) v. Ewen, Justices de Montigny C.J., Goyette, and Heckman JJ.A. examined the Respondent’s rejected request for a deferral of removal. The Respondent had filed an application for leave of the negative decision, as well as ...
Recent Decisions
Maan v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 1434 In Maan v. Canada (MCI), Justice Rochester examined the Applicant’s Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision. The determinative issue for both the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and the RAD was credibility. The Applicant had testified that she was released ...