Immigration and Citizenship Law

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, Prof. Audrey Macklin and Lorne Waldman, President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, show how the new citizenship law recently passed by the Canadian government could be used against jailed journalist Mohamed Fahmy and other Canadians jailed in foreign countries without adequate judicial process ("Case of Mohamed Fahmy shows failing of new citizenship rules," June 29, 2014).

In The Globe and Mail, Prof. Audrey Macklin, with co-authors Michael Adams and Ratna Omidvar, argues that the proposed new Citizenship Act will create second-class Canadian citizens who do not enjoy the same rights as others ("Citizenship Act will create two classes of Canadians," May 21, 2014).

Read the full commentary on The Globe and Mail website, or below.

Prof. Audrey Macklin was invited to deliver a lecture on the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Komagata Maru episode, in which migrants from India arriving by ship in Vancouver were denied permission to enter Canada. Her talk, "Getting to We: The Komagata Maru, The Unmaking of Empire and the Making of a Settler Society," is part of the Komagata Maru Week project marking the episode's centennial.

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, Prof. Audrey Macklin and immigration  lawyer Lorne Waldman analyze the ways in which Canada's immigration laws exacerbate the vulnerability of immigrant women ("How Canada keeps some immigrant women in their place," March 7, 2014).

Read the commentary on the Toronto Star website, or below.

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, Prof. Audrey Macklin and Lorne Waldman, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, identify important concerns with the Canadian government's proposed changes to citizenship legislation ("Citizenship reforms a serious threat to rights of all Canadians," February 12, 2014).

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, SJD student Y.Y. Brandon Chen says that the Ontario government's decision to provide health care to refugee claimants, after funding for it was withdrawn by the federal government, is an important human rights success that could also benefit the province in the long run ("Ontario right to fix Ottawa's mistake on refugee health care," December 12, 2013).

Three faculty members have been cited in a decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on whether the requirement for new citizens of Canada to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. In his decision, Justice Edward Morgan cited articles by Professors Lorraine Weinrib, Ayelet Shachar, and Ran Hirschl. He also cites former faculty member Sujit Choudhry.

See the full decision on CanLII.

Prof. Ayelet Shachar has been awarded the inaugural Chapter Award of the Migration and Citizenship section of the American Political Science Association. She received the award for her chapter on “Citizenship” in the Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law. Here is the citation by the selection committee:

In a commentary in The Toronto Star, Prof. Audrey Macklin attacks the proposal by the Canadian government to empower the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to revoke Canadian citizenship for certain offences ("Conservative citizenship-stripping bill barbaric and pointless," April 25, 2013).

Read the commentary on The Toronto Star website, or below.