Canada’s Dangerous Retreat on Migrant Rights

This proposal to use provincial jails to detain asylum seekers is deeply troubling. It undermines years of progress in protecting the rights of migrants and perpetuates harmful stereotypes that those fleeing violence, persecution, and hardship are a safety threat.

Framing asylum seekers as “criminals” and ascribing to them a supposed propensity for violence is alarming. This rhetoric disregards the humanity of those seeking refuge and fuels xenophobic attitudes.

The Canadian government’s own data shows that the vast majority of people detained under Canada’s immigration system pose no security risk; most are detained due to flight risk concerns rather than any actual safety threat.

In the United States, studies found that incarceration rates for undocumented migrants are lower than for people born in the country.

Canada’s track record on immigration detention already raises serious human rights concerns. In 2021, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented the psychological harm caused by the immigration detention system.

Many experience maximum-security provincial jails and solitary confinement, even though immigration detention is supposed to be administrative, not punitive.

This move also threatens to undo progress made through advocacy efforts, including the #WelcomeToCanada campaign.

In 2024, the last of all ten provinces committed to ending their immigration detention agreements with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), though Ontario has granted an extension until September 2025.

The federal government’s attempt to sidestep this progress raises serious questions about its commitment to upholding human rights.

Rather than doubling down on detention, the government should focus on community-based alternatives shown to be both humane and effective.

The federal government should invest in rights-respecting, community-based programs operated by local nonprofit organizations, independently of the CBSA.

Canada has prided itself on being a global leader in welcoming those in need. To follow Trump’s anti-immigrant lead by reinstating the practice of incarcerating migrants and asylum seekers betrays this legacy and tarnishes the country’s reputation.

The government’s choices today will define Canada’s future: Will it embrace compassion and human rights, or will it allow fear and harmful rhetoric dictate its policies?