Tuesday, 18 May 2021

No One Is Illegal

Open letter: Migrants with precarious legal status and individuals without MSI coverage continue to face barriers to vaccination in Nova Scotia

0 Comment

Providing access for migrant workers, refugee claimants, and international students within their first year of study, as well as those whose status may have lapsed, is key to ensuring an authentically universal and encompassing vaccine rollout and therefore, to safeguarding the public from extended and future Coronavirus outbreaks. And yet, there remain a number of significant barriers to meaningful universal access.

Status for all: Pathways to permanent residency in Canada need to include every migrant

0 Comment

Status for all means permanent residency for all temporary migrant workers and their families who live in Canada with precarious legal status. Temporary migrant workers include international students, refugee claimants, temporary foreign workers in low-wage occupations and migrants classified as high-skilled in the International Mobility Program. It also includes non-status migrants.

Too many barriers to vaccine access for migrants, open letter states

0 Comment

An open letter to Minister Zach Churchill of Health and Wellness asks that the province remove barriers that may stop migrant workers with temporary status, refugee claimants, and others with precarious legal status from accessing a COVID-19 vaccine. We speak with two of the letter’s authors. They’re not asking for much, but small changes would make a huge difference, they say.

In Nova Scotia undocumented migrants may miss out on vaccination, group fears

0 Comment

Local organizations that advocate for migrants are worried that undocumented residents will miss out on vaccination in Nova Scotia. “We have heard that the vaccine roll out is going to be done through MSI. And this would exclude undocumented people, and others who don’t have access to MSI, people who might fall through the cracks as a result of this,” says Stacey Gomez, a spokesperson for No One Is Illegal Halifax / Kjipuktuk.

Migrant workers’ rights still on backburner in Nova Scotia

0 Comment

Shavan is a father of three from Jamaica who’s been coming to Nova Scotia as a migrant farm worker for eight years. This past year, his bunkhouse was overrun with large rats. He says, “I know that’s not part of Canada’s standards.” Even during the heatwave over the summer, Shavan and other migrant workers were working 10-hour days in the blistering sun for minimum wage.

As we brace for the second wave of COVID-19, Stacey Gomez, Asaf Rashid, Jessica Tellez and Wanda Thomas call for uregnt action to end systemic racism faced by migrant workers.

PSA: Film Screening El Contrato + Q and A

0 Comment

PSA: Join us for a screening of the groundbreaking documentary “El Contrato” (The Contract), directed by Min Sook Lee. This film follows the story of Teodoro and other migrant workers who come from Mexico to work in tomato greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario. We’ll also hear the story of Shavan, a father of three from Jamaica who’s been coming to Nova Scotia as a migrant farm worker for 8 years (through a pre-recorded interview). This will be followed by Q & A discussion.