‘No one is illegal’
Rally against family separations held at Colonial Building
“No one is illegal,” shouted Elisabeth de Mariaffi from the steps of the Colonial Building in St. John’s on Saturday.
Along with close to 80 other people, de Mariaffi was there to rally against family separations at the United Statesmexico border, the images and sounds of which have shocked the world, but also to protest against similar situations in Canada.
“We are demonstrating our upset, frustration, and horror with what we’re seeing in the United States and in our own country,” said Lynn Moore, one of the rally organizers.
“What I hope we achieve is sending both a message to the American president and to our own Prime Minister that the way we’re treating refugees and migrants and Aboriginal children is just wrong, and it has to change.”
Moore spoke about eliminating the Canada-united States Safe Third Country Agreement.
“If someone comes through the United States then we won’t accept them because they’ve already been in a safe country, and we think that’s really unfair because the United States is no longer a safe country – it’s not safe for those people, they’re being imprisoned and in some instances, that’s what they’re fleeing is unlawful imprisonment.”
Protestors also pointed to the high numbers of Aboriginal children in foster care in our own country, and the treatment of refugees and migrants here in Canada.
“As a parent, your worst nightmare is losing your children, and that’s a terrifying reality for so many people coming to Canada and for Indigenous communities as well,” said St. John’s Councillor at Large Maggie Burton.
She looked at her own two children playing on the Colonial Building steps as she shook her head: “It’s completely heartbreaking.”
“While I want to denounce the zero tolerance border policies of the US and the explicitly racist and dehumanizing policies of that government administration, I think it’s important that we recognize that inflicting hardship as a deterrent to migrants has long been a feature of immigration policy here in Canada as well.”
People left the rally with some calls to action. In particular, if they hadn’t already, they were encouraged to write to their Members of Parliament and Members of the House of Assembly demanding a strong official statement from Canada about what is happening in the United States, demanding the elimination of the Canadaunited States Safe Third Country Agreement, and demanding that Canada examine and fix its own family separation policies.
The St. John’s rally was held in solidarity with marches and rallies across Canada and the United States.
As a parent, your worst nightmare is losing your children, and that’s a terrifying reality for so many people coming to Canada and for Indigenous communities as well,”
Maggie Burton,
St. John’s Councillor at Large.