We were appalled to hear about the disrespectful manner in which “undocumented” and “migrant” workers were treated during this week’s Canadian Border Services Agency raid on a Vancouver construction site. The raid included TV crews who were filming for the reality TV show Border Security: Canada’s Front Line.

As Ian Mulgrew declared in today’s Vancouver Sun column, “Border Security makes Canada look like a Third World nation under siege. It portrays border guards as serving on the front-line of a non-existent war…. poor would-be immigrants, who whatever their story, deserve to be treated with respect.”

One of the family members of a worker who was arrested has launched a petition calling upon National Geographic Channel to cancel the Border Security reality TV show. Please sign and share this petition.

Yesterday, concerned groups and individuals gathered at Vancouver’s Citizenship and Immigration Office to rally against the CBSA raids on workers at local construction sites. In an interview with CBC news, Harsha Walia of No One is Illegal explained the context for the protest, remarking that we ought to question why, in the first place, there are so many individuals who must work “illegally” in Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF2irF92djc&feature=youtu.be