Transport Ministry cuts ties to border agency after migrant blitz
Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca has cut his ministry’s ties with the Canada Border Services Agency for the foreseeable future.
Del Duca spokesperson Patrick Searle said Thursday operational relations with the federal agency have been suspended while his ministry reviews a controversial incident last month when immigration officials rounded up undocumented workers during a roadside commercial vehicle check.
“There will no longer be blitzes with the CBSA as the review is ongoing,” he told the Star on Thursday.
“I have been told the review period should be wrapping up in the next few weeks,” he said referring the internal ministry probe.
On Aug. 14, Canada Border Services Agency officers used a commercial vehicle roadside blitz along Wilson Ave., between Jane St. and Hwy. 400, to arrest 21 undocumented workers.
Immigrant advocates and a critic denounced the province for playing along with immigration officials in what was supposed to be a routine roadside check.
In the meantime, No One Is Illegal, a migrant justice organization, has filed a complaint to the Ontario ombudsman urging a public investigation into what it says amounted to racial profiling, and anti-migrant detentions.
Ombudsman André Marin’s office confirmed that a complaint was received and that No One Is Illegal will be notified if the matter warrants an investigation.
The CBSA has said it is fairly routine to work with the Transportation Ministry and insisted it was invited after partner agencies “noticed that many drivers stopped during blitzes had immigration warrants.”
“As a result, it was determined that the CBSA’s presence would be beneficial in the processing of these individuals,” the federal agency stated earlier.
Searle countered that it was the CBSA that took the initiative “and they invited the OPP and they extended the invitation to the MTO (as well).”
The minister’s spokesperson was also insistent the ministry and the CBSA did not work in tandem but rather in two separate spot checks some distance apart and that the ministry’s only concern was the safety of commercial vehicles.
“The MTO was not involved in any of the CBSA (blitz),” Searle told the Star in an earlier interview.
Meanwhile, the federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is making no apologies for the CBSA doing its job.
“We will not compromise the integrity of our immigration system,” Jason Tamming, a spokesperson Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Steven Blaney, said in an email to the Star.
Transport Ministry cuts ties to border agency after migrant blitz | Toronto Star
Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca has cut his ministry’s ties with the Canada Border Services Agency for the foreseeable future.
Del Duca spokesperson Patrick Searle said Thursday operational relations with the federal agency have been suspended while his ministry reviews a controversial incident last month when immigration officials rounded up undocumented workers during a roadside commercial vehicle check.
“There will no longer be blitzes with the CBSA as the review is ongoing,” he told the Star on Thursday.
“I have been told the review period should be wrapping up in the next few weeks,” he said referring the internal ministry probe.
On Aug. 14, Canada Border Services Agency officers used a commercial vehicle roadside blitz along Wilson Ave., between Jane St. and Hwy. 400, to arrest 21 undocumented workers.
Immigrant advocates and a critic denounced the province for playing along with immigration officials in what was supposed to be a routine roadside check.
In the meantime, No One Is Illegal, a migrant justice organization, has filed a complaint to the Ontario ombudsman urging a public investigation into what it says amounted to racial profiling, and anti-migrant detentions.
Ombudsman André Marin’s office confirmed that a complaint was received and that No One Is Illegal will be notified if the matter warrants an investigation.
The CBSA has said it is fairly routine to work with the Transportation Ministry and insisted it was invited after partner agencies “noticed that many drivers stopped during blitzes had immigration warrants.”
“As a result, it was determined that the CBSA’s presence would be beneficial in the processing of these individuals,” the federal agency stated earlier.
Searle countered that it was the CBSA that took the initiative “and they invited the OPP and they extended the invitation to the MTO (as well).”
The minister’s spokesperson was also insistent the ministry and the CBSA did not work in tandem but rather in two separate spot checks some distance apart and that the ministry’s only concern was the safety of commercial vehicles.
“The MTO was not involved in any of the CBSA (blitz),” Searle told the Star in an earlier interview.
Meanwhile, the federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is making no apologies for the CBSA doing its job.
“We will not compromise the integrity of our immigration system,” Jason Tamming, a spokesperson Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Steven Blaney, said in an email to the Star.
Transport Ministry cuts ties to border agency after migrant blitz | Toronto Star
