If Immigration Was A Baby

Fall 2009: How I Met Your Mother

I left Iran to pursue the American dream. Not really, I just wanted to study and hopefully get a decent job. Soon after my arrival, I faced the harsh reality that life is not what is shown in the movies shot in LA or NYC. And first and foremost, that dream is not for folks like me. In 2015 I came to the conclusion that living in the US is no longer an option for me. I rather not live in a country that does not want me for what I’m worth. I packed my stuff and immigrated yet again, this time to the White North.

Fall 2016: Why Not Have A Baby

I decided to apply for Canadian permanent residency (PR) and by Winter my case was being processed. Little did I know that I quickly am flagged as a potential terrorist (what a surprise, our American brothers thought the same too) and was sent for extra security screening. Being burnt out by too many immigration applications, work, life, and everything else, I completely forgot about the whole thing. I was living my life as fully as I possibly could. Table tennis, climbing, snowboarding, camping, hiking, hell even rafting and archery, conferences in and out of the country, travels for fun and work. I was all too busy to pay attention to what has happened to my immigration application.

Spring 2018: Endless Cries, Sleepless Nights, Baby Steps

The chatter raised that Iranians are waiting much longer times to get their PRs than non-Iranians. The anecdotal data was there, all non-Iranian friends of mine were getting approved in 2-3 months, and all the Iranians were waiting years. Seemed that this is the observation of quite a few Iranians around Canada. An online group was formed, several hundred people joined and people started collecting data. The anecdotal data grew into fully-fledged self-reported data. We approached several organizations and government units and even started online campaigns. No help, no hope. We then started filing individual complaints with Canada Human Rights Commission which later asked us to join in a group complaint because they didn’t want to handle hundreds of cases one by one. We did. Several mediation sessions where the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) first denied any wrongdoings and made fun of us, gaslighting the entire group. Stress, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness, depression, losing self-confidence, destroyed friendships/relationships, lack of focus for work, lack of enthusiasm for fun… the list goes on. I have to confess that their tricks work quite well, many people dropped their cases one by one. When we pushed back, IRCC started blaming Public Safety, and they said they’ve got nothing to do with it, IRCC keeps sending files to them and they have to do it which takes time. IRCC was claiming they are sending the cases to PS because of guidelines that no one was saying who has put them there in the first place

Spring 2020: Look Pops! I’m Biking

We are still going back and forth with CHRC and IRCC and PS. Finally, CHRC says they are not convinced by the explanations of IRCC and PS and are sending the cases to Human Rights Tribunal. As soon as this happens, the IRCC minister writes a letter to the tribunal saying this is a matter of national security and should be handled by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA). NSIRA was supposed to investigate and provide a report in 90 days. Close to the deadline they ask for 18 month(!) of extension, this seems to be the common practice, IRCC did that numerous times, as you can guess from the timelines mentioned.

Spring 2023: My Baby Is Going To School

NSIRA has a report out that says they determined IRCC was sending any Iranian male between 22-60 years old, and anyone related to them to extra security screening with no extra conditions applied. A blanket filter on nationality, sex, and age. They concluded that those applicants were at a disadvantage because of characteristics protected by Canada Human Rights Act (CHRA). It yet remains to see what comes out of it.