Winnipeg rally joins protest of U.S. immigration policy to separate children from families

More than two dozen people gathered outside the United States Consulate in Winnipeg on Saturday, joining others across Canada and the U.S. to protest the Trump administration's immigration policies. 

Demonstrators on this side of the border also called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to end immigration detention and deportation in Canada.

"We wanted to stand in solidarity with migrants and recognized that Canada needs to treat its migrants better as well," said Emily Leedham, who helped to organize the rally with Migrante Manitoba, a community-based organization that supports temporary foreign workers.

"We wanted to draw attention to what people are doing on the ground, what work is being done on the ground and empower people to act and listen to the voices of the people being affected."

Leedham says demonstrators here and in cities across Canada are calling on the federal government to to drop out of the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., stop the separation of Indigenous families here in Canada through Child and Family Services, and end migrant detention both here in Canada and in the U.S.

"Everyone is really angry, everyone is really frustrated," she said.

A day of action

More than 600 rallies were also held in cities across the U.S. on Saturday.

Although U.S. President Donald Trump recently ordered that migrant families no longer be separated, officials estimate there are still more than 2,000 children who have not been reunited with their loved ones after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

At a protest in Toronto, a pile of stuffed animals grew on the ground, representing the children who have been separated from their families and are in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Speakers in Winnipeg — including refugees and new Canadians — talked about their own experiences with Canada's immigration and migrant worker system.

"I know a lot of people who are having difficulty trying to unite with their families," said Hazim Ismail, a refugee from Malaysia living in Winnipeg without citizenship, who spoke at the demonstration.

"Sometimes it's 11 years — two of my friends got reunited with their families after six years — and that was outside of the country because the immigration system is so bureaucratic."

Ismail told CBC News all Canadians should be concerned by what's happening in the U.S. and elsewhere.

"It's part of this contagion that's sweeping across the Western World," he said.

"The United States, as we know, is moving farther and farther to more extreme measures — children are being detained — Canada is just swept up into it."

He says he's worried by what he sees.

"Because it might embolden people to go out in the public and be more blatantly racist and hateful if they feel like the government policies are reflecting their views," he said. 

'Not something that we can accept'

Migrante Manitoba organizer Diwa Marcelino says in Canada, migrant workers are also being separated from their families — sometimes for several years at a time.

"These types of policies that are implemented  by the Canadian government can be changed," he said.

"For instance, other types of immigration streams allow the family to come with the workers, but for so called low-skilled workers and temporary foreign workers … they are not allowed to bring their families."

As well as changing our own policies, Marcelino said it's time for the Canadian government to denounce the Trump administration's immigration policies.

"Detaining children and separating children from their parents is not something that we can accept," he said.

"We ask that these families be reunited and we ask our government, our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to condemn these acts and demand the reunification of families immediately."

More than a dozen other events were organized in Canada on Saturday, including in Halifax, Edmonton and Ottawa.