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Immigration issues heat up in Canada, U.S.

globalnational.com

Monday, March 27, 2006

TORONTO -- Immigration issues reached a boiling point in Canada and the U.S. with a mass deportation of illegal construction workers over the weekend causing an outcry in one Toronto ethnic community, while south of the border, citizens rallied nation-wide against Washington's plans for immigration reform.

On Sunday, nearly two dozen Portuguese nationals in Canada illegally were put on planes at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and deported.

Another seven Portuguese nationals scheduled for removal did not appear for their flight Sunday, and there are reports that the Canadian government is poised to issue dozens of additional deportation orders in the next two weeks with as many as 100 households receiving notices by April 8.

Toronto's Portuguese community has cried foul, complaining that illegal immigrants working in the construction industry are being deported at a higher rate than normal.

However, federal Immigration Minister Monte Solberg denies that the government is stepping up efforts to deport illegal immigrants.

He says the Tories are removing illegal immigrants at the same rate as the previous Liberal administration.

South of the border, the United States now is grappling with its own immigration issues as it struggles to decide the fate of as many as 12 million people living in the country illegally.

On Monday, the U.S. Senate takes up the emotional debate on the heels of weekend rallies that drew hundreds of thousands of people protesting attempts to toughen laws against immigrants -- including one Saturday rally on the U.S. West Coast in which more than 500,000 people marched through downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for any cause in recent U.S. history. Marchers also took to the streets in Phoenix, Milwaukee, Dallas and Columbus, Ohio.

Among the ideas that President George W. Bush and members of Congress are considering:
- Erecting a fence on the Mexico border to deter illegal immigration.
- Treating people who sneak across the border as felons to be deported.
- Allowing foreigners to stay in the country legally as custodians, dishwashers, construction workers and other low-paid employees.
- Allowing those working in the U.S. a path to citizenship.
- Requiring them to get in line behind everyone else back in their home countries who want to become Americans.

Demonstrations were planned Monday near the U.S. Capitol, including a prayer service with immigration advocates and clergy who plan to wear handcuffs to demonstrate the criminalization of immigration violations.

Bush is also travelling to Mexico this week for a meeting which includes the leaders of both Mexico and Canada. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that it is important for Mexico to "recognize the importance ofdefence of the borders and of American laws."

The president, working hand-in-hand with the business community that relies on cheap labour, is pressuring Congress to allow immigrants to stay in the country legally if they take a job that Americans are unwilling to do.