Attorney General David Eby, Government of B.C

CC: Minister of Labour Harry Bains, Government of B.C
Premier John Horgan, Government of B.C
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen, Government of Canada
Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale, Government of Canada
Minister of Border Security Bill Blair, Government of Canada
MLA of Vancouver-Hastings, Shane Simpson
MP of Vancouver-East, Jenny Kwan


We are writing as working people celebrating Labour Day across the country. We are horrified that several of our neighbours, comrades, and fellow workers and residents are unable to celebrate this day with us, and instead are facing expulsion from Canada after the Hastings Racecourse immigration raid.
 
In a highly militarized raid on the backstretch of Hastings Park on Vancouver, unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tseil-Waututh territories, approximately 26 workers from Mexico were arrested and detained by 20-30 CBSA officers on August 19, 2019. We are alarmed Attorney-General David Eby turned over information to CBSA, resulting in this raid. Seven workers faced subsequent admissibility hearings. These workers, like Adan Cruz Villegas and Giovanni, wake up early in the morning and groom and care for horses in the Hastings Race stables. The stables have a painful history of violence, including the internment of Japanese-Canadians during World War II.
 
These workers are being punished with exclusion orders for the alleged corruption of an employee of the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch who may have provided fake documents in exchange for benefits and cash. Many of the workers have been coming to Canada for a few years and believed they had the necessary legal authorization.
 
In situations of investigations, workers—especially vulnerable workers—should not be punished or harmed for the actions of others. The provincial and federal government must protect these workers through open work permits and temporary resident permits, and allow them re-entry into Canada to continue to work.
 
Provincial and federal policies towards migrant workers facilitates an underground industry of extortion and exploitation. Under the rhetoric of ‘uncovering exploitation,’ ironically, the actions of the Attorney-General and CBSA have exacerbated vulnerability for these workers, several of whom now face a legal ban on re-entering Canada for years.
 
We are concerned this raid and its aftermath fuels the forces of racism and xenophobia against migrant workers. Migrant workers are already scapegoated for ‘stealing jobs and resources,’ even though they are often exploited in substandard working conditions because regressive immigration and labour laws restrict their agency and leave them open to abuse.
 
We call on all levels of government to not divide workers from each other, to not leave any worker behind, to affirm decent work and universal quality services, and to ensure the protection of all workers. We demand the right to permanent landing status upon arrival for migrant workers, and full and equal access to social programs and employment standards. We know we can only fight the forces of austerity and transnational capitalism by lifting the wage floor and expanding collective bargaining rights for all workers.  
 
Signed,
1. Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
2. No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
3. Sanctuary Health
4. Fuerza Migrante
5. Migrante BC
6. Justice for Migrant Workers
7. Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers
8. SWAN Vancouver Society
9. Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights
10. Migrant Workers Centre
11. Sanctuary City Edmonton
12. Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project
13. Sabrina MacDonald, Family member
14. Byron Cruz, BCGEU and CUPE
15. Harsha Walia, BCGEU
16. Jennifer Reddy, Vancouver School Board
17. Jean Swanson, Vancouver City Councillor
18. Christine Boyle, Vancouver City Councillor
19. Cindy Corney, Groom at Hastings Racetrack
20. Tara Neigel, Hastings Racecourse
21. Robyn Maynard
22. Natalie Knight, Langara Faculty Association
23. Lily Shinde, Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens' Association
24. Preethy Sivakumar, Canadian Staff Union
25. Parker Johnson
26. Craig Fortier, Renison Association of Academic Staff
27. Ian Curtin, USWA
28. Jada-Gabrielle Pape
29. Myles Magner, OPSEU Local 568
30. Nada Elmasry
31. Lucy Alderson, Capilano Faculty Association, FPSE
32. Simon Black, Department of Labour Studies at Brock University
33. Emma Jackson
34. Judy Rebick, CUPE 3904
35. Ajay Puri
36. Dru Oja Jay
37. Edward Wong, CUPE3903
38. Celine Chuang, Streams of Justice
39. Niki Najm-Abadi, CUPE 1936
40. Jorge Salazar
41. Camille Dumond, Refugee Livelihood Lab
42. Sean Carleton, Graphic History Collective
43. Theodora Lamb
44. Jennifer Fitzgerald, Canadian Association of University Teachers
45. Fatima Jaffer
46. Trudi Diening, Capilano Faculty Association
47. Betsy Alkenbrack, FPSE Local 01
48. daniyah shamsi
49. Diana Twiss, Federation of Post-Secondary Educators
50. Samantha Ponting HSASU
51. Alexandra Emery
52. Scott Neufeld, Teaching Support Staff Union
53. Martha Colorado
54. Sidney Coles
55. Min Sook Lee
56. Kimalee Phillip, Canadian Staff Union
57. Sarah Ryan, CSU
58. Rachael Bullock
59. Irina Ceric, Kwantlen Faculty Association/FPSE
60. Tiffany Balducci, CUPE
61. Atiya Jaffar
62. Leila Trickey
63. Valerie Sing Turner, UBCP
64. Heather Lamoureux,
65. Deb Oldfield, Canadian Staff Union
66. Elizabeth Leonardis
67. Tracy Defoe, Capilano Faculty Association
68. Noé Arteaga  
69. Reyna Villasin
70. Sarah Elizabeth Wolfson
71. Dr Katherine Dunster, Kwantlen Faculty Association
72. Pat Hodgson, Federation of Post-Secondary Employees
73. Jessica Gutteridge
74. Jean Parlina
75. Tahia Ahmed
76. Andrew Loewen, Canadian Staff Union
77. Mei-ling Wiedmeyer
78. David Camfield, Winnipeg Labour Council
79. Anna King
80. Srinivas Murthy
81. Rita McCracken,
82. Jonah Gindin, Canadian Staff Union
83. Julian Riddell
84. Meenakshi Mannoe
85. Natalie Blair, BCNU
86. Kirstin Blair, AUPE
87. Andrew Longhurst, Health Sciences Association Staff Union
88. Jeff Shantz, Federation of Post-Secondary Educators
89. Justin Choi
90. Ayendri Riddell, Unifor Local 467
91. Erin Coates
92. Chris Dixon, CUPE 4600
93. Erin Peters
94. Anahita Sebti, BC Nurses Union
95. Denise Martins, CUPE 1281 member
96. Tasha Nijjar
97. Tammy Kelly, CSU
98. Ela Esra Gunad, HESU-PEA
99. Jade Ho, Teaching Support Staff Union
100. Kayla phillips, TSSU
101. Lillian Deeb, Teaching Support Staff Union
102. Sylvia Rossell
103. Seamus Grayer, Teaching Support Staff Union
104. Benjamin Anderson, Teaching Support Staff Union
105. Sydney Ball, Vancouver Tenants Union
106. Vanessa Johnson
107. Rocco Trigueros, Mexicans Living in Vancouver
108. Sabrina Macdonald
109. Neil Vokey, Vancouver Tenants Union
110. Magín Payet Scudellari, Unifor 111
111. Ben Ger, Vancouver Tenants Union
112. Brian Peaslee, CUPE 391
113. Nathan Crompton, The Mainlander, VANDU
114. Kassandra Cordero, USW 2009
115. Anelyse Weiler, Okanagan College Faculty Association
116. Sarah St John
117. Sam Dharmapala
118. Andrei Mihailiuk, CUPE 116
119. Kurtis Peters, Streams of Justice
120. Amanda Atkinson
121. Isaac Weissig, Local 118
122. Dr. Hijin Park
123. Chris Ramsaroop
124. Brett Ashleigh, TSSU
125. Scott Yano, TSSU
126. Susan Alaric
127. David Bloom, Union of BC Performers
128. Eilen Barrett, UBCP/ACTRA
129. Wendy Santizo, CUPE 1004
130. Oswaldo Godoy, IATSE 891
131. Victoria de Anda
132. Amanda Palay
133. Blanca M Wissar
134. Maria Cecilia Saba
135. Anne-Mary Mullen
136. Nayeli Orozco
137. Andrea Glickman
138. Nassim Elbardouh, BCTF
139. Valerie Johnson
140. Angela Moore, UBCP/ACTRA
141. Martha Dzhenganin
142. Janet Calderon
143. Amanda Wilson, Professors Association of Saint Paul University
144. Anna Willats, OPSEU 556
145. Susanna Klassen
146. Barry Conway, Hamilton IWW
147. Alia Karim, CUPE
148. Gabrielle Ross-Marquette, CSU
149. Stephanie Mayell, CUPE
150. Sarah Shamash,
151. Seb Bonet, CUPE 4163
152. Alice Gauntley, USW 1998
153. Chantelle Spicer, Selkirk College Students’ Union
154. Seb Bonet, CUPE 4163
155. Daniel Karasik, ACTRA
156. Madeline Bourette-Knowles
157. Ryan Breeden
158. Julianne Harvey, Union of BC Performers
159. Lia Hood
160. Phoebe Ramsay
161. Jocelyn Coburn
162. Didi Dufresne
163. mia susan amir
164. Levi Nelitz
165. Aaron Spires, CUPW
166. Vania Chan
167. Donna Clark, BCTF
168. Erick Gutierrez
169. David McNally, York University Faculty Association
170. Cathy Wilander, retired BCGEU member
171. Sheryle Carlson
172. Iván Ostos, CUPW - Local 104
173. romham gallacher, Radical Access Mapping Project
174. Nora Ready, FPSE
175. Tharunamaya Abbu
176. Natalie Lopez
177. Kelly Reiko Pleau
178. Wendy Naava Smolash, Douglas College Faculty Association
179. Dr. Amanda Whitten, Family Physician
180. Will Offley, BCNU
181. Lama Mugabo
182. Batul Gulamhusein
183. Sandra Marcok
184. Jenn Matsui De Roo
185. Nathalie Lozano, UBC
186. Tricia Ewanchuk, CEU
187. Atia Haq, OPSEU
188. Vikki Reynolds, PhD RCC
189. Damey Lee
190. Todd Gordon
191. Richard Marquez
192. Johanna Lewis, CUPE 3903
193. Aleria Sarra
194. Juan Vargas Alba
195. Elise Thorburn
196. Nikisha S Khare
197. Mark Gifford
198. Adrienne Neill
199. Amal Rana, Canadian Media Guild
200. Emma Preston
201. Jodie Foster
202. Racquel Villagante
203. Moussa Magadss
204. Terra Poirier
205. Robyn Gray
206. Jonathan Turcotte-Summers
207. Alisha Lettman
208. Gloria Jaramillo
209. Ashley Grant, HSABC
210. Elene Lam, Butterfly Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network
211. King-mong Chan
212. Sunny Nestler, FPSE local 22
213. Tavleen Purewal, CUPE 3902
214. Stephanie L Smith, UFCW 1518
215. June Hwang
216. Brettley Mason, HSABC
217. Iosefina
218. James Pangilinan
219. Eva  Nancy Trigueros, Coalition of Progressive Electors COPE
220. Maisaloon Al-Ashkar
221. Vyas Saran
222. Susan Stout, Unifor
223. Hannah Vautour
224. Rita Reddy
225. Erin Quittenton
226. Diana Mohtar
227. Usman Mushtaq
228. Megan O'Neil
229. Jessica Johnson
230. Leo Yu
231. Maribel Aloria, CDWCR
232. Cerez Mercado
233. Lisa Barrett, BCGEU, CUPE
234. Francisco-Fernando Granados, Artist
235. Catherine Hart
236. Janet Mullin, AUNBT
237. Climate Justice Toronto
238. Daniel Tseghay
239. Marion  Pollack
240. The Anti-Oppression Network
241. Genevieve Ritchie
242. Damla Tamer, UBC
243. Joel Short
244. Tami Starlight
245. Caitlin Atkinson
246. Trevor McEachran, BCGEU
247. Orion Keresztesi
248. JT Zhang
249. Manny Sobral, High School Teacher - VSTA
250. Sid Shniad, COPE 378 (retired)
251. Mahdiyar Biazi, BCGEU
252. Dianne Peacock, MoveUp
253. Sarah Sheridan
254. Madeleine Andrews
255. Dawn Paley
256. Natalie Raedwulf, BCTF
257. Jennifer Woo
258. Kyla Dubois
259. Nancy Pollak, Langara Faculty Association
260. Alex Kiczales
261. Michelle Liu, PSAC610
262. Reg Johanson, Capilano Faculty Association
263. Gabriel Olivella
264. Janice dugan
265. Moussa Magassa
266. Israel Mota Reyes
267. Catherine Reggelsen
268. Phil LeGree
269. Peter Knowlton
270. Kate Hodgson
271. Jessica Hogue
272. Maribel Moroni
273. Miriam Berman, BCNU
274. Lily Groves, Coalition Against Trans Antagonism
275. Dagoberto contreras
276. Andrea Warner, CMG
277. Neha Moharir
278. Wyatt Reeves
279. Jean-François Martel-Lepage  
280. Leigh Eldridge
281. Phoenix Beck, CUPE 1004
282. Tracey B Cullis, Cupe
283. Dr. Nicole D. McFadyen, CUPE 3903
284. Andrea Baptiste
285. Abeer Majeed
286. Joe Curnow, University of Manitoba Faculty Association
287. sue goldstein
288. Alex Schiebel
289. Naomi Sayers
290. Anisha Dhillon
291. Joshua Weber
292. Lorena Mota
293. Tascha Speck, VTU
294. Javney Mohr
295. aly de la cruz yip
296. Danielle Bisnar
297. Heather Mclean
298. Alexandra Tamiko Da Dalt
299. Aida Mwanzia
300. Deborah Cowen, University of Toronto Faculty Association
301. Nicole Rycroft
302. Justin Buhr
303. Juanita Burnett, CUPE 1334 Unit 1
304. Madalena Santos, CUASA
305. Gavin Fearon, IATSE, CUPE
306. Alisa Gayle
307. Sarah Chown
308. Bianca Crewe, CUPE 2278
309. Heather Joan Tam, CUPE
310. Cenen Bagon, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights
311. Kate McIntyre
312. Kier Gray, HEU
313. Norman (Otis) Richmond
314. Julia MacRae, Surrey Teachers' Association (BCTF)
315. Ana Maria Caicedo
316. Cynthia Ho
317. Sydney Hart, PSAC901
318. Aditya Rao, Canadian Staff Union
319. Justin Kong, Chinese Canadian National Council
320. Natalie Drolet, Migrant Workers Centre
321. Alliance Against Displacement
322. Tanya Ferguson , CULE
323. Calgary Harm Reduction Alliance  
324. Jessica McEachern
325. Navi Dasanjh
326. María José Balbontín
327. Glenda Newsted
328. Steffanie Ling, The Mainlander
329. Rebecca Carlow
330. Taz Soleil
331. Teresa Diewert, BCTF
332. Omar Chu
333. Caroline Kovesi
334. Karine Ng, BCTF local 39-2
335. Hilary McNaughton, BCGEU
336. Laura Mills
337. Shirley Chau, UBC Faculty Association
338. John McInnally
339. Nasrin Himad
340. Charlton Cook
341. Joshun Dulai
342. Sarah Haberl, University of Ottawa
343. Richard Gee, CUPE 116
344. Brit Bachmann
345. Minna Rytkonen, CUPE
346. Clayton Wilson, ATU 1505
347. Amber Labelle
348. Kelly-Ann Wright
349. Fay Faraday, OHFA
350. Julie Diesta, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights
351. Sara Kendall, BC Paramedic
352. Michelle Spice
353. Anneka Bosse
354. Showing Up For Racial Justice--Toronto
355. Lorina Serafico, CDWCR
356. Jacquie McKay
357. Lyn Orense, CDWCR & HEU
358. Ameil Joseph
359. Mina Palay
360. Ignacio Hernández
361. T. Marquez
362. Rawan Abdelbaki, CUPE 3903
363. Dianne Varga
364. Marie mckay
365. Griffin Epstein
366. Carmen Alcantara
367. Christopher Parkinson
368. Kiana Saint-Macary
369. Arash Ghiassi
370. Maya McDonald, BCTF
371. Barbara Yates, HBPA of BC
372. Eric Tweel, SEIU Local 2
373. Rianne Svelnis
374. Caitlin Rowe
375. Joella Cabalu
376. Rain Daniels
377. Andrea Thompson
378. Brandon Houston, HEU
379. Jason Sandhar
380. Kyla Dubois
381. Jessica Awe
382. Brandon Houston, HEU
383. Aleesha Hsu
384. Kenneth Skidmore , PPWC
385. Aida Mwanzia
386. Gioia Breda, BCTF Local 36/Surrey
387. Preet Lidder, BCTF/VSTA
388. Wulfgang zapf
389. Dominika Nasilowski, IATSE 891
390. Katrin MacPhee
391. Kaleb Morrison
392. Tanis Isbister, BCTF
393. Judy Haiven, Member of NS Equity Watch
394. Eleanor Reardon
395. Ellen Woodsworth
396. Theodore Lake
397. James Cavalluzzo, BCGEU / UWU
398. Joanne Fry
399. Clare Yow
400. Brandon Fry  
401. Alicia Massie, Teaching Support Staff Union
402. Jacob Fischer-Schmidt
403. Bruno Dobrusin
404. Jessica Kirk
405. Denis Jennermann
406. Jaime Coreas, CELSAN
407. Afifa Hashimi
408. Byron Wood
409. Nadia Revelo, Socialist Alternative
410. Freda Guttman
411. Matt Hern
412. Lara Maestro
413. Ellie Ade Kur
414. Natalia Perez, TSSU
415. Juliana Dalley
416. JP Hornick, OPSEU
417. Lisa Butel, BCGEU
418. Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group