Increasing Immigration - Essay Example

Facts about the Chosen Topic

One critical aspect that has proven to be a major concern to several countries around the globe is increasing immigration. Since 1995, there has been an exponential rise in the number of immigrants, legal and illegal, with the average increase of the immigrants placed at 18 million individuals annually (Edmond, 2020). Such a dramatic increase in the number of immigrants globally is attributed to instances of war, political instability, economic reasons, and increased cases of international students in developed countries (IOM, 2020). The Arab Spring, political instability in the Middle East, and economic depression in countries in Africa and Latin America are some of the major causes of increased immigration of individuals to various countries (IOM, 2020). The Western countries, especially US, Italy, and Germany are some of the examples of countries that continue to experience an influx of immigrants from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, respectively (El-Assal, 2020). Currently, it is estimated that the number of immigrants would decrease in countries such as US and Canada owing to the coronavirus pandemic that has prompted several countries to impose movement restrictions or closed offices for processing such immigration requests (IOM, 2020). However, with the economic hardships and conflicts reigning hand in hand with the pandemic, countries like Canada are expected to register a high number of asylum requests.

Recent Information about Immigration in Canada and Globally

Though countries continue to experience the influx of immigrants in the past three decades, Germany remains the major receiver of immigrants while the US has the highest number of requests from immigrants that totalled to over 55 million in the American history (Edmond, 2020). Of the individuals who sought to immigrate to other countries, 40% of them were from Asian countries with Indians dominating the chart (Edmond, 2020). On the other hand, the UAE had the highest number of the immigrant contingent in 2019. Internationally it is estimated that over 272 million people are migrants, a figure that translates to 3.5 per cent of the global population (Edmond, 2020). Such information shows an increasing trend in immigration.

Ideas of those Responsible to do Something About it

Canada, like other countries in the world, has distinctive immigration policies that have been credited for its effective management of immigration compared to most countries in the West such as the US, Germany, Spain, and Italy. The effectiveness of Canada's immigration policy is attributed to the following. First, Canada has a robust legal framework that dictates provisions and thresholds for attaining immigration. For instance, when one wants to immigrate to Canada, they must apply at the Canadian embassy or consulates in their countries as opposed to travelling to Canada (El-Assal, 2020). The process is subject to scrutiny and prolonged background check that aims at gauging whether such applications merit the existing thresholds for acceptance. Apart from the effective legal frameworks concerning immigration, Canada also has four walls that make an instance of illegal immigration nearly impossible (El-Assal, 2020). To the south, the border with the US and effective border enforcement by the Canadian immigration authorities makes it less likely for one to sneak in the country illegally. However, even if they sneak, such immigrants are bound to encounter immigration officials at some point. At the West and the north, the Arctic Ocean acts another barrier as the extreme temperatures in those areas make it relatively had for one to sneak to Canada illegally. The North Atlantic Ocean at the East, especially at the Baffin and Labrador Bays, make it extremely difficult for one to fathom sneaking to Canada illegally.

Dos and Don’ts in Canada’s Immigration Policy

For an individual to successfully immigrate to Canada or even get their asylum request granted, some parameters and thresholds must be attained. Canada has one of the stringent immigration policies in the globe and mostly grounded on urgency, authenticity, and admissibility based on the Canadian standards, humanity, and authenticity of such claims (El-Assal, 2020). It is estimated that over 250,000 individuals immigrate to Canada annually, and the Canadian immigration laws provide a framework upon which visa applications could be based on four categories (El-Assal, 2020). The first category is the family class members where an individual is offered immigration based on the fact that they have persons that are closely related to them residing in Canada (Legal Line, 2020). The other class is the economic immigrants who are allowed to live in Canada owing to their Canadian experience class, business links to Canada and the fact that they are skilled workers in Canada (Legal Line, 2020). The third category is the humanitarian and compassionate applicants who are individual immigrants who are admitted in Canada based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (Legal Line, 2020). The last category is the refugees who are mainly individuals who are escaping unusual punishment, political persecution, torture, and other criminal acts that undermine their human rights and dignity (Legal Line, 2020). Despite these categories, the immigrants are required to be law-abiding citizens and follow the laid down channels and platforms towards the realization of their residency in Canada. These individuals are expected to effectively ensure that they have no past criminal records such as terrorism. If they are international students, they are expected to return to their countries upon the completion of their studies in Canada. In that regard, the immigrants are expected to respect the Canadian constitution and steer clear of criminal activities or other activities that could lead to the revocation of their residency status in Canada.

On the other hand, the issuance of residency status to the immigrants are subject to multiple conditions and based on how individuals conducted themselves in their countries. The health status of the residents is some of the other conditions that Canadian immigration policies give consideration (Legal Line, 2020). In that regard, an individual does not qualify to be granted residency status if they have past criminal records, pose a security threat to Canada and her interests, does not have sound financial status, have been involved in human or international rights violations, have an inadmissible member of the family, and non-compliant with varied existing provisions (Legal Line, 2020). Therefore, for ones’ request for immigration to be admitted in Canada, they must follow the right channel by applying for the status in the Canadian embassy, high commission, or consulate in their home countries and avoid instances where they sneak in Canada to pursue the same (Legal Line, 2020). In most cases, such situations would lead to an individual getting deported or could lose their lives if they try to sneak through the oceans.

Suggestions and Solutions

Canada's immigration policies are not only selective but also inflexible compared to other immigration policies across the world. Critics have pointed out that such policies criminalizes immigration and are caveats erected on the paths of immigrants to stop people from immigrating to Canada. However, proponents of these immigration policies point out that these policies are aimed at eradicating the influx of immigrants and ensure that only deserving immigrants come to Canada. However, to achieve leverage and ensure that instances of global immigration are reduced, the following suggestions should be taken into consideration. First, the countries in the West should cease from stoking and financing conflicts in other countries that results in the influx of refugees. Countries in the West tend using developing countries as leverages in testing their sphere of influence globally. Such instances have led to the displacement of populations and persecutions in these countries. Again, Canada, like other G7 countries should embark on initiatives that would encourage economic development in the developing countries and ensure that the governments where the immigrants come from uphold human rights, improve the economic wellbeing of their citizenry, and effectively promote equality and democracy in such nations. In cases where immigrating to Canada is the last option, Canada should reduce the amount of time that is spent in processing the requests by putting a realistic timeframe within which such requests are processed and residency issued based on the existing parameters and thresholds. To eradicate instances where individuals sneak to Canada, costing the taxpayers fortune when they are deported, Canada should rely on the use of technology to man its border and also liaise with the border officials in the US to impose stringent guidelines in that regard.

Impacts of Canada’s Immigration Policy on People

Canada’s immigration policies have not been lauded by all as one of the greatest. The fact that over 90% of such requests were denied in 2019 reflects a disturbing trend could contravene the internal law regarding immigrants as well as paint Canada negatively. There are some instances where individuals who were deported from Canada go back to their country and meet their death either through persecution or suicide owing to the economic hardships they encounter and staring at a bleak future typified by lurking dangers and lawlessness (IOM, 2020). Since Canada has cut an image of a country that respects and upholds international law, its stringent immigration policies that almost criminalizes immigration dents the milestone it has made compared to other countries from the West when it comes to dealing with immigrants.

Improvement and Management

For the Canadian policies to reflect on the Canadian ideals and effectively realign with international law while simultaneously taking into consideration the need to protect Canadian sovereignty, there is a need to restructure the immigration department. Such restructuring should take into account the need to ensure that the rights of individuals are safeguarded as enshrined in the Canadian Bill of Rights. Through fast-tracking the period for processing the requests and ensuring that due process is followed, such feats will be achievable, and individuals seeking asylum in Canada will effectively be guaranteed of safety in Canada and free from persecution.

Conclusion

Though Canada's handling of immigration is used as a textbook example of what effective management of migration in various countries in the West entails, it has multiple shortcomings and is not entirely perfect. The policy mainly saves Canada from instances from the influx of immigrants like in US and Italy but does not help in reducing the number of immigrants globally. In countries that face conflicts, their problems emanate from the role that the countries in the west play in fueling such disputes. Instances of colonization and imposition of democracy have led to runaway corruption, lawlessness and plunder of natural resources. Such cases have effectively led to a soaring number of individuals that are seeking residency or asylum in Canada. The prolonged process of approving these requests also have a toll on most applicants and to a great extent, harmful. Thus, to effectively reduce immigration, especially those attributed to war, political persecution, and poverty, the developed countries should assume responsibility and insist on upholding democracy and the rule of law as well as economic growth in these countries.