Canadian lawyer in immigration law says Harper should follow Obama on illegal immigration
US President Barack Obama announced the historic immigration reforms last week that will allow millions of illegal immigrants in the country (about 4.7 million) to avoid deportation and to take measures for the citizenship.Under the new reforms, anyone who has lived in the US for five years or a parent is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States can now apply for citizenship and avoid being deported.
While the reforms have generated criticism from Republicans, advocates of immigration believe that these changes are not major. The issue of illegal immigration is also a concern in Canada, although it is debatable to apply here similar reforms to those announced by the United States.
Colin Singer, a Canadian lawyer in immigration law, said that the US reforms are a positive step and said the Harper government should follow the example of Obama, by implementing similar reforms. According to Mr. Singer, there are 200,000 undocumented immigrants in Canada, the majority living in and around Toronto. "I believe that amnesty program could be introduced under an agreement between Ottawa and each province, because they all have immigration agreements with Ottawa," said Mr. Singer.
According to the Committee's report on the 2009 Immigration, House of Commons, there are significant differences between Canadian and US illegal immigrants. While most of the undocumented immigrants in the US illegally entered through its southern border, most immigrants to Canada have entered the country legally, whether as tourists or temporary worker visa.
The report states that "different people react differently to be without status in the country. Some seek to take advantage of the refugee system and Canada's welfare, by filing false applications for asylum or seeking to fraudulently obtain benefits. Periodically, the media report stories of people here illegally and who commit crimes and yet avoid deportation. Less often we hear the stories of thousands of people working under the table and quietly struggling for years, often doing jobs that Canadians refuse, while they raise their children and try to integrate into Canadian society ".
The report stresses that these invisible immigrants and their families are subjected to more abuse that temporary foreign workers and they quietly tolerate working conditions below the standards for fear of deportation.
Me Singer believes that illegal immigrants who are currently working in Canada could receive temporary work permits from the Canadian government. Those who remain in good standing may apply for permanent residence after a period of 12 to 24 months.
Nearly a quarter of illegal immigrants in Canada could make use of such a scheme and make significant tax revenue. "This could represent some 150 million in direct taxes and annual fees in the first year alone. In addition, these people would eventually be able to sponsor members of their immediate family, which also would increase income taxes, taxes on payroll and consumption taxes, beyond the tax revenue Income. "
Canada has offered amnesty to illegal immigrants before, but this was never a success. These programs have often raised the criticism that they encourage foreigners to circumvent the rules and therefore encourageng illegal immigration.
Mr. Singer is however not agree with this argument. "The last amnesty in Canada, I believe, was in the 1980s So a" cleansing "once every 30 years or more will not be used, in my opinion, to increase illegal immigration. We have sufficient guarantees and visa restrictions under the current government to ensure the status quo for some time, "he argued.
According to a report by the Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS), McMaster University and the project of globalization and autonomy, Canada launched eight separate regularization programs between 1964 and 2004 . the report said: "However, nothing has been implemented and non-status people in Canada currently have almost no opportunity to regularize their immigration status. Today, the only official option for non-status immigrants to obtain the status is through a humanitarian application and compassion. With a success rate estimated 5%, however, this process is obviously far from enough. "
Canadian lawyer in immigration law says Harper should follow Obama on illegal immigration
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