Sunday, October 19th 2025, at 3PM

Starting Point : Metro Parc

“March of prisoners”: wear an orange prisoner suit or other visible symbol of imprisonment (handcuffs, bars, etc.).

Bring your placards. Family friendly, bring your kids!

Solidarity Across Borders calls on all migrants (undocumented and those who may soon become undocumented because of Canada’s unjust immigration system, made even worse by C-2), all supporters, and allied movements, to join us in a “march of prisoners” on Sunday, 19 October.

Our demands are clear: respect for our dignity, equality, freedom to move, to stay, to return. In the immediate context, this means immediate regularisation of all migrants in Canada, withdrawal of Bill C-2, and withdrawal from the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA).

We reject the racist discourse which blames migrants for social problems created by unjust social structures. We reject colonial borders which enforce the global system of apartheid. We join hands with the indigenous peoples of Canada, workers of all origins, and all oppressed by racist colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy to fight for our freedom and justice for all.

We demand regularisation, an end to C-2 and an end to the STCA.

What is regularisation? Regularisation is a legalistic term meaning that migrants who do not have equal legal rights are recognized by the Canadian state as equal to people born in Canada. It is a technical term for equality under the law.

What is C-2? C-2 is a bill introduced by the new liberal government of Mark Carney which proposes changes to several Canadian laws. Far from the “refugees welcome” tweet and the promise of regularisation of the last liberal government, it is an expression of the anti migrant hatred of trump, poilievre and the far right. If passed, C-2 will hugely increase the number of undocumented migrants in Canada, lead to even more deaths of people trying to enter Canada from the United States, and give the Canadian state more powers of surveillance.

What is the Safe Third Country Agreement? The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) attempts to stop migrants in the United States from coming to Canada. In reality, it forces people to take even more dangerous routes to enter Canada and has led to deaths on the border by drowning and freezing. Trump’s America is not safe; not for migrants, not for gay and trans folk, not for racialized and colonized people, not for women. Under Trump, more migrants than ever are desperate to find safety. With changes to the STCA introduced by Carney’s Bill C-2, they will be unable to regularise in Canada and the undocumented population will increase even more.

Why a march of prisoners? Undocumented migrants and all precarious status migrants are prisoners in Canada. They cannot leave, they cannot work legally, they are exploited at the workplace even more than other workers, they are under threat of arbitrary detention. They are here because Canada and other rich, Western countries have made their homes unliveable. They are here because they seek a better life for themselves and their children. They are confronted by Canada’s bureaucratic and legalistic violence but fight back with dignity and resilience.

Freedom to move. Freedom to stay. Freedom to return. NO ONE IS ILLEGAL ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND.

solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com

www.solidarityacrossborders.org