Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Blogpost: Bill C23 - Preclearance Act: Wrong Deal, Wrong Time

There is increasing and deserved attention on a new government bill expanding the powers of US Customs officers operating at preclearance centres at airports and other ports of entry in Canada. Some of the dangers of the bill are outlined below: http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/6140/Preclearance-bill-raises-concerns.html The above article referenced concerns about U.S border officers having the right to detain Canadian travellers to the United States. These concerns were expressed before the Trump presidency. In light of the many and numerous horror stories of travellers being detained, harangued, strip searched, and being subjected to intrusive and intimidating questioning, the Liberal government needs to rethink this Bill. As of right now, no government official has even been able to outline what actual tangible benefits Canada would accrue as a result of this deal. Are there any benefits? What has been negotiated? How is this going to ostensibly help trade and freer borders? The Liberals need to wake up and realize that the ostensible benefits from the deal were negotiated with the Obama administration. The Trump administration seems to take malicious pride in undoing or wanting to undo agreements negotiated by Obama's government. Trump himself often brags about getting the better of others by simply reneging... Read more →

Interview with Danielle Smith: Discussing the Spike in Refugee Claims from America and Refugees that Commit Crimes

Part 1 of my interview on AM770 discussing immigration developments on February 13, 2017 with Danielle Smith; specifically, the spike in refugee claims that we are seeing: Danielle Smith: ... Okay, a few of you have been asking, are you going to talk about M103? Yes, indeedy we are. We've got Derek [inaudible 00:02:58] coming up a little bit later, but I wanted to get into a whole battery of issues that took place while I was away and are continuing to occur. Remember when I played that clip from our immigration minister, Ahmed Hussen, who I thought did a very measured job of saying, "Hey look, the Americans can do whatever it is they want to do in controlling who comes into their country and we will do what we will do. We will offer temporary asylum to those who find themselves stranded and I have been assured," he said, "... that Canadians and those who are permanent citizens are not going to be denied entry into the United States." Well, as expected, because I think there's a little bit of confusion around this policy and I think it is being selectively enforced in different ways. I don't think... Read more →

Visa Office Interviews and the Gut Feelings of Immigration Officers

I've been reading “Points of Entry: How Canada's Immigration Officers Decide Who Gets In” by Vic Satzewich. The author managed to - after obtaining with some difficulty the necessary bureaucratic blessings - interview over a hundred visa and case officers, and attend and examine the inner workings of a number of overseas visa offices. Reading the book confirmed many of my own experiences both as a former immigration officer and now for more than a decade, an immigration lawyer charged with facilitating my client's interactions with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada - formerly known as Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In this post, I'm going to focus on the Visa Office Interview. Interviews are rarely scheduled for most temporary resident visas. After two recent TRV's were refused, I sought judicial review challenging those decisions. After succeeding, both were sent back for re-determination by different officers and interviews were convoked for both. They are often not necessary for an economic class application, although I've seen them for the self-employed class. The interview is far more common for family class, and specifically spousal sponsorship applications. Unfortunately, the visa office interview can feel akin to first defeating the Minotaur and then finding a way... Read more →

Blogpost: Much Ado About Nothing - Refugees and Mass Hysteria

The refugees are coming! The refugees are coming !Even after we exercised our moral authority to specifically help the Syrians by thousands, the refugees keep coming! They are now not even passively waiting for deportation or unfair treatment by the American authorities or danger and risk in their home countries, they are proactively taking their lives and the lives of their children into their own hands and illegally crossing our borders in the search for safety. Outrageous! These people, thinking their lives have worth and dignity and value and acting in a manner that maximizes their chances for health, safety and even possible beneficial economic outcomes. We must stop them! We must stop them at any cost! Our borders are sacrosanct and we must utilize our proverbial stick and take away any carrots to stop this infiltration and these queue jumpers who should wait nicely in refugee camps for us to call on them! Otherwise . . . This is where the politically motivated and beneficial hysteria loses steam. Otherwise what? - The special programs set up for Ismaelis in East Africa to come to Canada in the 1970s resulted in . . . . a slew of entrepreneurs and... Read more →

Interview with VICE Canada - Refugees from America - Going from the Frying Pan to the Fire?

It's always a pleasure discussing immigration and refugee issues with the reporters from VICE Canada. Here, I discussed the plight of those that brave sub-zero temperatures, knee and waist deep snow to seek refuge in this country with VICE report Jake Kivanc. Some excerpts are below: In Ottawa, some Conservative MPs—such as Michelle Rempel—have balked at the idea of providing refuge to individuals entering Canada illegally. However, critics of that narrative say the cost of crossing is already incredibly high as it is. "Canada appears to some people to be Disneyland for refugees," Raj Sharma, a Calgary immigration lawyer whose firm has been working overtime due to the number of new claimants, told VICE Tuesday. "There is a very difficult process here, it's not like people are just being given a pass to do as they wish," Sharma told VICE, adding that many who have been arrested are still awaiting hearing, and that there's no guarantee that they'll win their case. ... Out of all three regions, the RCMP says that Quebec has had the greatest influx of refugee claimants attempting to cross the border. The RCMP would not provide VICE with comment as to why they believe this is... Read more →

Interview on Global News - Trump's New Executive Order Like a Bad Zombie Movie

I discussed President Trump's new Executive Order yesterday with reporter Tracy Nagai with Global News. To borrow a term from his favourite pastime, he took a mulligan. Rather than fight out his first (both flawed in its drafting and flawed in its execution) Executive Order all the way to the Supreme Court, he simply went back to the drawing board. But a rose by any other name smells as sweet; a #muslimban by any other name, is still a #muslimban. Like some bad zombie movie, the Executive Order has come back to life, stumbling and shambling about causing chaos and confusion in its wake. Read more →

Immigration Law: Consequences of Criminality - Interview with Canadian Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe - Transcript

It was my pleasure and honour to have been asked to speak to my colleagues at the CBA Immigration Subsection here in Calgary late last year. The topic was the (manifold) consequences of criminality; while the Immigration law in this country prioritizes security and enforcement, all is not lost nor is removal a foregone conclusion even in the event of a conviction in Canada, or a conviction or charge outside of Canada. After the speech, I sat down with my friend and colleague, Mark Holthe, an accomplished and experienced immigration lawyer for an interview which he will be posting on his popular immigration podcast. The transcript of that interview follows. Mark Holthe: I'm here with my good friend and colleague, Raj Sharma. Raj, thanks for joining me. Raj Sharma: My pleasure. Mark Holthe: We're testing this out with our digital recorder here. I usually do these interviews via Skype call, but I've got high hopes that the audio is going to be great regardless. Thanks for putting up with me, Raj, and happy to have you with us. Today, Raj has agreed to come in and talk a little bit about criminal inadmissibility and some of the consequences that can... Read more →

Disturbing rise in incidents of Islamophobia and Whether Canada should Accept More Refugees

I, along with a representative of the Muslim community in Alberta were interviewed on Alberta Primetime this week. I wanted to post a partial transcript of that interview because I want people to know that words matter, particularly the words that politicians employ. I think there's a reason why politicians like Kellie Leitch have been so silent these last few days; why he campaign has suffered the loss of its manager. Deep down, on some level perhaps a realization of their role in acts that target minorities and refugees. ... Michael Higgins: Mustafa, it didn't take long for news of the ban to spread, but it also didn't take long for the rhetoric to begin flowing. What's your view on how Canadians are responding? Mustafa Farouk: I think that the reaction's mixed. I think the vast majority of Canadians are reacting as we expect them to: with shock, outrage, this notion that we're not going to go down the same path of discriminating against people just based on their religion. [That's 00:07:03] something that's important to our [tried and 00:07:05] protected values. At the same time, there is this disturbing rise of this alt-right, neo-Nazi movement in Canada that is... Read more →

Calgary Immigration Lawyer Interviewed on Global News on Muslim ban

I discussed the Executive Order implemented on January 27, 2017 and the resulting chaos and confusion with Global News on January 30, 2017. Speaker 1: ...the outcry continues for a ban on immigration and refugees. Is part of this government attempt to stop radical terrorists from entering America. This morning, a look into the international rules and and impact of vetting people. Immigration lawyer Raj Sharma joins us this morning with more insight into what this could potentially entail. I know Raj throughout the weekend, there was a lot of kind of uncertainty as to how this was being ruled out, but things seem to be a little bit more clear this morning. However, I want to start by asking you, have you seen anything like this rolled out internationally before? Raj Sharma: No. If you look at the United States, the country itself was founded as a haven or escape for individuals fleeing their religious persecution from Europe. The United States is this haven and this safe place is right from its founding days. I want to make something clear, because there's been a lot of talk about, and there's a lot of scapegoating or targeting of certain groups... Read more →

Interview with Danielle Smith on AM770 Discussing Immigration Developments

It was a pleasure discussing immigration developments with Danielle Smith on AM770 last week, just before Trump's Executive Order caused chaos and confusion over the weekend. A transcript of our conversation: Danielle Smith: Let me just take a pause, 'cause I don't want to end up short changing the conversation with my next guest. We're going to get into a different topic immigration impacts for Canada. Two big things that have happened in the last couple days. Number one, shutting down the Mexican boarder by building a well. Number two, which were expecting an executive order today, a suspension on refugee claims in America. Now how is that going to impact us? Raj Sharma is my guest he's a Calgary Immigration Lawyer, we'll talk to him about that when we get back on News Talk 770. Okay, welcome back! Now we've got two big decisions happening in the United States and there's been some analysis suggesting that they're both going to impact us. I'm going to find out from my next guest, Raj Sharma is a Calgary Immigration Lawyer and he joins me now. Raj, thanks so much for being with me. Raj Sharma: My pleasure. Danielle Smith: Lets first... Read more →