Federal Court judges want government officials to consider the “moral debt” owed to immigrants who worked to help Canadians during COVID peaks when deciding requests to remain in Canada.
Risky contributions to public health and safety by non-citizen immigrants during the height of pandemic illness and panic have been highlighted by judges in several court decisions in appeals to remain in Canada. How to quantify sacrifice and service, however, is a contentious issue, with lawyers, migrant support groups, judges and immigration officials offering conflicting views.
“The moral debt owed to immigrants who worked on the frontlines to help protect vulnerable people in Canada during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be understated,” a judge said last year in a ruling for Bhaona Mohammed, a woman from Fiji working as a health-care aide at a long-term care home in Alberta.
Another judge applauded a man from Nigeria who worked both as a security guard and an Uber driver in Ontario through COVID-19 peaks.
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