Protect Dreamers

Re America’s Dream team pushes back, Sept. 6

It is incredible that U.S. President Donald Trump can wash his hands of the Dreamers while telling them how much he loves them.

But are Canadians doing any better? We have our own Dreamers. Canada harbours thousands of youth and young adults who arrived here as children with parents who never achieved Canadian status.

We see them in our clinics when they are sick. We know there are many. They reside, work and attend school here. They contribute. Perhaps you know them? They may serve you your morning coffee, clean your house and clothes or wait your table while you dine out? They already form a part of Canada’s future and economy. Canada’s natural birth rate will account for only 20 per cent of the youth we need by 2030 to sustain our economy and GDP.

Most Dreamers only know Canada as their home. They often only find out they are “not as Canadian as their high school friends” when they try to get a part-time job or can’t get a driver’s licence. They don’t have a social insurance number. The humiliation and risks only get worse. They have no access to health care. When they want to go to university or college, they pay the same increased tuition as foreign students.

What is Canada doing to address the very same social and immigration injustice under our own noses that we find so offensive in the U.S.? Paul Caulford, medical director, Canadian Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Health Care, Scarborough