February 9, 2024
The Honourable Marc Miller Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
[email protected]
Open Letter Re: Concerns with the application process for the special immigration measure for Gaza
Dear Minister Miller,
We write you with serious concerns about the application process for the temporary public policy to facilitate temporary resident visas for extended family affected by the crisis in Gaza.
The special immigration measure that our caucus called for on December 4, 2023, opened on January 9. It is riddled with problems. At the outset, nobody knew when the online portal would open. The arbitrary quota for applications only heightened anxiety as people felt that they had to compete with others for limited spots.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not been proactive or clear in communicating with applicants and has been largely incapable of answering any questions about their files. Many people who completed the first stage of the application are still waiting to receive a code that will allow them to proceed and IRCC cannot explain why some people who applied on January 9 received a code quickly and others still have not. Others have been rejected without any explanation from IRCC or for reasons that were later contradicted. People have been rejected and then subsequently approved with the exact same application.
To highlight the absurdity of the situation, one family was told only two weeks after their application was rejected that the reason was due to a missing ‘notary seal or stamp’ even though no stamp is required by law in British Columbia. Notwithstanding, the application was in fact stamped. The applicant did resubmit with the stamp on a gold seal so that it’s more visible to the scan, but IRCC then approved the original application anyway.
Even for us, answers to questions from a December 22 parliamentary briefing on the policy were only provided on February 5. People are being left in the dark and their frustration and fear is growing. While families have struggled to navigate this opaque process, their loved ones have perished.
Furthermore, even for those that have received codes and were able to submit Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) applications for their family members, the bureaucratic barriers continued.
It is unreasonable and absurd to ask a seventy-nine-year-old for information about each of their previous passports and for a detailed employment history going back to when they were a teenager amid one of the most devastating bombing campaigns ever. Nor should a fourteen-year-old need to consent to allow IRCC to share a list of all their social media accounts and descriptions of every scar on their body with Israeli authorities. These onerous and invasive demands are unjustifiable when people have been displaced, are without food and water, and are lacking reliable access to internet or telecommunications.
While security precautions are always necessary, treating every Gazan as an inherent security threat reinforces harmful colonial stereotypes and amounts to structural anti-Palestinian racism. Instead, we ask that your -2- department extend compassion, understanding, and humanity to Palestinians fleeing their homes in Gaza to no lesser extent than any other population fleeing war and starvation, including Ukrainians.
We further ask that you immediately lift the arbitrary 1,000-person cap. It represents a discriminatory double standard and while you have said that this is not a hard cap and IRCC would be ‘flexible’, one only needs to read the public policy itself to see there is in fact a hard cap on the program.
At this juncture, will you confirm that the department will no longer issue codes to applications as the program is already oversubscribed? If that is the case, it is imperative that you eliminate the 1,000 cap immediately. In the interest of open and transparent communication, we ask that your department publish a running record of how many codes have been issued, how many applications have been approved, and how many names have been submitted to Israel to make it on the list to come to Canada.
Finally, we ask that you ensure application requirements remain reasonable in light of the devastating suffering of family members of Palestinian Canadians; provide reliable, proactive and responsive communication to Palestinian Canadian sponsors; and meaningfully advocate for the human rights of the families of Palestinian Canadians, including their freedom of movement and right to return to their land.
Time is of the essence and your urgent attention and response is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Jagmeet Singh, MP
Burnaby South
Jenny Kwan, MP
Vancouver East
Charlie Angus, MP
Timmins – James Bay
Niki Ashton, MP
Churchill – Keewatinook Aski
Taylor Bachrach, MP
Skeena – Bulkley Valley
Lisa Marie Barron, MP
Nanaimo – Ladysmith
Daniel Blaikie, MP
Elmwood – Transcona
Rachel Blaney, MP
North Island – Powell River
Alexandre Boulerice, MP
Rosemont – La-Petite-Patrie
Richard Cannings, MP
South Okanagan – West Kootenay
Laurel Collins, MP
Victoria Don
Davies, MP
Vancouver Kingsway
Blake Desjarlais, MP
Edmonton Griesbach
Randall Garrison, MP
Esquimalt – Saanich - Sooke
Leah Gazan, MP
Winnipeg Centre
Matthew Green, MP
Hamilton Centre
Carol Hughes, MP
Algoma – Manitoulin – Kapuskasing
Lori Idlout, MP
Nunavut
Gord Johns, MP
Courtenay – Alberni
Peter Julian, MP
New Westminster – Burnaby
Alistair MacGregor, MP
Cowichan – Malahat – Langford
Brian Masse, MP
Windsor West
Lindsay Mathyssen, MP
London – Fanshawe
Heather McPherson, MP
Edmonton Strathcona
Bonita Zarrillo, MP
Port Moody – Coquitlam
