International student deportation protest nears 100 days of demonstrations in Brampton

For nearly 100 days, international students at risk of deportation from Canada have been pleading to stay while protesting a “severe backlog” of permanent residency applications.

The 100 days of demonstrations have seen students hold rallies in Brampton and block traffic at busy intersections while calling for the Canadian government to extend post-graduation work permits for some 70,000 international students who are facing deportation.

The Naujawan Support Network, a group dedicated to ending “exploitation” of international students and workers, says those facing deportation were heralded as heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic only to be used “for cheap labour” and discarded.

One union official told INsauga.com that the student/foreign workers drove trucks and worked in logistic plants and warehouses in Brampton to make sure Canadians still received goods and services.

“They drove trucks, delivered packages, operated forklifts in warehouses, constructed homes, served food and provided care,” the Naujawan Support Network said of international students and workers. “Their labour bailed out the Canadian economy during a dire time.”

Several of the students have set up camp near Highway 410 to draw attention to their cause which they say stems from broken promises made about their post-graduation careers.

Leaders from the Ontario Federation of Labour have thrown their support behind the workers who will hold another large rally to mark 100 days of protest.

The pushback comes as Ottawa plans to reduce the number of post-graduate work permits granted to foreign students who have now finished school, and limit the length of time they can staff after graduation.

It’s estimated that across the country, 200,000 former foreign students will be told to leave the country under the new initiatives.

The Naujawan Support Network says international students contribute $31 billion per year into the Canadian economy through their tuition, rent, CPP and EI.

It says cuts to international student and worker programs “threatens a loss of $7.4 billion in yearly tax revenue that pays for Canadians’ social, health and public services.”

The students and unions are calling on the government to extend the work permits that are about to expire and provide a fair pathway to permanent residency to those already in the system.