TORONTO -- A new report decries Canada Border Services Agency's routine and frequent detention of foreigners in provincial jails.
Key Findings:
- Even short-term immigration detention has a significant negative impact on mental health;
- Detention causes psychological illness, trauma, depression, anxiety and aggression;
- Indefinite detention is one of the most stressful aspects of immigration detention;
- Detention can be particularly damaging to refugees, victims of torture or the mentally ill.
Key Recommendations:
- Create an independent body/ombudsman to oversee and investigate the CBSA;
- Enshrine in law the use of least restrictive measures against migrants;
- Detention beyond 90 days should be unusual and subject to court oversight;
- Take into account mental health and other vulnerabilities in detention reviews;
- Detain migrants in dedicated, minimum-security facilities near community supports and their lawyers.