In the wake of the provinces ending the incarceration of asylum seekers in their jails, Canada’s federal government has announced it may start holding these migrants in Canada in federal penitentiaries.

“The government proposes to introduce amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) to enable the use of federal correctional facilities for the purpose of high-risk immigration detention,” an annex to the latest federal budget notes.

Migrants’ rights advocates say they are feeling betrayed.

“I felt a big sense of betrayal,” Lloyd Axworthy, chair of the World Refugee & Migration Council, reportedly told CBC News.

On its website, Human Rights Watch takes aim at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for its practice of having migrants detained in jails.

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“People in immigration detention, including people with disabilities and those seeking refugee protection in Canada, continue to be regularly handcuffed and shackled,” states the organization.

“With no time limits on immigration detention, they can be detained for months or years and are at risk of being held indefinitely. Many are held in provincial jails alongside people detained on criminal charges or convictions, and they are also sometimes subjected to solitary confinement.”

The migrants’ rights organization bemoans the lack of civilian oversight over the CBSA.

“CBSA’s unchecked exercise of its broad mandate and enforcement powers has repeatedly resulted in serious human rights violations in the context of immigration detention, including prolonged solitary confinement in maximum-security jails, child detention and family separation, indefinite detention, and the stripping of legal capacity of people with mental health conditions,” it claims.

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Although all of the provinces have stated their intentions to end their contracts for the detention of migrants in their provincial jails, many of the provinces still have on-going contracts with the CBSA which have yet to run their course.

“Our detention applies across the entire immigration spectrum. It’s not just refugees. It’s not just people applying for asylum. It’s anybody in the immigration continuum,” CBSA vice-president of intelligence and enforcement Aaron McCrorie reportedly told CBC News earlier this year.

Migrants Still In Provincial Jails Despite Provinces Ending CBSA Contracts

“We do not detain asylum seekers at all unless we don’t know who they are, unless they pose a risk to the public.”

That means there are still migrants in provincial jails in Canada. Most of them are being held for less than a day but a little less than a quarter of them are held for 100 days or more.

During the second quarter of its current fiscal year, the CBSA was housing the biggest chunk of these migrants in Ontario, Canada’s biggest province. During that quarter, Ontario housed 649 migrants in its provincial jails.

Quebec housed 389, British Columbia 292, Alberta 47 and Manitoba 10.

Newfoundland and Labrador Last Province to End CBSA Contract

Newfoundland and Labrador was the Canadian province to announce earlier this year it will stop holding asylum seekers and other immigrants in provincial jails, a move that was well-received by human rights activists.

“Newfoundland and Labrador’s decision is a momentous human rights victory that upholds the dignity and rights of people who come to Canada in search of safety or a better life,” said Human Rights Watch acting disability rights deputy director Samer Muscati.

“With all 10 provinces now having cancelled their immigration detention agreements and arrangements, the federal government should finally guarantee through a policy directive or legislative amendment that the border agency will stop using jails for immigration detention once and for all.”

The Atlantic Canadian province served up notice to the CBSA on March 12 that as of the end of March next year its provincial jails will no longer hold people detained under the IRPA.

Under the IRPA, migrants can be and are kept in these provincial jails across Canada even when they are not accused of a crime.