Immigration-related exclusions

Immigration precarity profoundly shapes how non-status and precarious-status migrants impacted by gun violence or the homicide of a loved one experience the criminal justice system. Fear of deportation functions as a powerful deterrent to reporting crime or accessing police protection, even in cases involving serious victimization (Deshman, 2009). The Toronto Police historically operated under an often ask, always tell practice, meaning that officers were encouraged to ask about immigration status during interactions and were required to report that information to federal immigration authorities, in which encounters with law enforcement routinely led to disclosure of immigration status to federal authorities, resulting in detention or removal. The CBJS consultations (Jeffers, 2023) reveal that participants described individuals with precarious status being deported because of their involvement with the criminal justice system. Research conducted with Black survivors of homicide loss documents the profound consequences of immigration precarity in practice. In one account, a participant described how an immigrant fiancé of a homicide victim was deemed ineligible for post-homicide support and required to leave Canada, with other bereaved family members funding his departure (Sharpe et al., 2023). For Black gun violence survivors in similar circumstances, accessing medical care, mental health support, or compensation without triggering immigration consequences requires navigating a system that was not designed to protect them (Sharpe et al., 2023). This research was conducted through the Centre for Research and Innovation for Black Survivors of Homicide Victims (The CRIB), a community-anchored research initiative whose findings are referenced throughout this paper.