Thursday, March 21, 2013

Reality-TV immigration raid spurs human-rights complaint

A migrant worker who unwittingly starred in a reality-television show about Canadian border guards was already back in Mexico on Thursday when a rights group filed an official complaint with the federal privacy watchdog over his treatment at the hands of the Canada Border Services Agency.
In the complaint, Oscar Mata Duran said he felt a surge of adrenalin March 13 when about a dozen immigration officers pulled up at his Vancouver low-rise condo construction site with a television camera in tow. Running upstairs to hide, Mr. Mata Duran hoped he’d be overlooked in the raid. Five minutes later, however, he was discovered and bombarded with questions about his immigration and work status.
When he was found lacking the proper documents to work in Canada, the complaint filed by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said, Mr. Mata Duran and several others were taken into custody at a downtown immigration detention facility – the video camera trained on them the entire time.
“When he asked why there was a camera present, the officer told him ‘not to worry, it’s for a reality TV show,’” said the complaint.

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