Fear, intimidation and evictions in our so-called Sanctuary City
There are posters on the walls of municipal buildings that herald Toronto as a “Sanctuary City.” But Mary knows better. A Namibian asylum seeker who stayed in Toronto after her refugee application was denied, Mary says she has been asked to leave multiple city-run shelters because she has no immigration papers.
“You always live in fear,” said Mary, who asked that her real name not be published, out of concern that she might be reported.
“There is no trust, because every time they tell you, ‘You are not supposed to be here . . . You must be out of the shelter or else we’ll call Immigration on you.”
In 2013, Toronto became the first city in Canada to declare itself a safe haven for people who arrive outside of legal channels. On Jan. 31, Mayor John Tory reaffirmed Toronto’s status as a Sanctuary City, with council’s backing.
But a new report by criminologists at Ryerson University states that city hall has never dedicated adequate leadership, planning or funds to follow through with that commitment.
“There is more work to be done. We are trying to change institutional culture, which does take time.” JOHN TORY
“It’s not enough to reaffirm or to proclaim,” said Graham Hudson, one of the study’s co-authors. “It’s a good start, but it takes work to implement these policies and there just hasn’t been enough of that.”
Under the city’s sanctuary initiative, called Access T.O., municipal staff are supposed to provide the majority of services to residents without asking for immigration or citizenship documents.
However, after a year of interviewing undocumented migrants, community groups, advocates, doctors, lawyers and city officials, Hudson and his fellow researchers concluded that Access T.O. is “diffuse, amorphous and informal, lacking systematic integration” across city departments.
“The people who are providing these services don’t realize that status is not a requirement and so they refuse to offer services although they are required to offer them,” Hudson said. “(Or) non-status migrants are fearful of government authority and not confident that . . . their status will be kept confidential.”
Blanca Cruz Martinez, a housing counsellor at FCJ Refugee Centre whose clients include undocumented migrants, called Toronto’s Sanctuary City claim “a joke.”
“I deal with my clients every day and see the struggle that they have to access services,” she said. “The services are all over the place. One organization wants to do this and one organization wants to do that, and they’re not on the same page.”
A 2015 audit commissioned by the city determined that more work was needed to “ensure a consistent and informed approach by front-line staff” dealing with undocumented migrants.
Since the fall of 2016, staff from Toronto’s social development, finance and administration department have “met individually with each city service area to discuss specific ways to support Access T.O.,” city spokesperson Jennifer Wing said.
“There is more work to be done,” Tory said in a written statement after the Star sent his office a copy of the Ryerson report.
“We are trying to change institutional culture, which does take time. But staff assure me that the city is regularly auditing services to ensure that the Sanctuary City policies are being implemented.”
The report singles out the Toronto Police Service for “flagrantly ignoring” its own board’s policies on undocumented immigrants.
In 2007, the Toronto Police Services Board adopted new standards of conduct stating that “victims and witnesses of a crime shall not be asked their immigration status unless there are bona fide reasons to do so.”
But Hudson said police do ask victims, witnesses and complainants about their immigration status.
“Toronto police collect this information and then pass it on to the (Canada) Border Services Agency so that the (Canada) Border Services Agency . . . can follow up and detain and deport these individuals,” Hudson added.
Mark Pugash, spokesperson for the Toronto police, said he “can’t rule out the possibility that there are cases where the procedure wasn’t followed.”
But the police board’s directions are clear, he said.
“You don’t ask unless it is relevant. But if you become aware of (illegal immigration status), you are required by law to report it.”
Documents obtained by University of Ottawa professor David Moffette in 2015 showed that Toronto police had contacted the border services agency more than 3,200 times in an eight-month period.
The study, prepared for migrant advocacy group No One Is Illegal, said the data indicated more than 80 per cent of those calls were made to check someone’s immigration status.
“There can be a number of reasons why those calls (to border services) go in, and this is what I think the report missed,” Pugash said.
“There are reasons that are perfectly legitimate that do not fly in the face of the board direction.
“And I’m not going to go into the specifics, but what I can tell you is the idea that a call is automatically a violation of the board procedure is just simplistic and wrong.”
Meanwhile, the number of asylum seekers crossing illegally from the U.S. into Canada has increased markedly in the past year.