Latest news with #AnitaAnand
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
On the NATO scorecard, Donald Trump wins — and our budget loses
Prime Minister Mark Carney holds a closing press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand, left and Minister of National Defence David McGuinty following the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Pre Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
CTV News
17 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Approximately 55 Canadians have been detained by ICE, minister says
Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand speaks to reporters in The Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Approximately 55 Canadians have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told CTV News Friday. 'Our work is to ensure that they're being treated fairly, and that's the advocacy that consular officials from Global Affairs Canada do every day, not only in the United States, but around the world,' said Anand. ICE operations have been under increased public scrutiny since Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, said ICE officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term. ICE operations have sparked protests across the U.S., leading to arrests and curfews. During her interview with CTV News, Anand responded to questions about the Canadian citizen who died in ICE custody on June 23. She said consular officials had been in contact with Johnny Noviello, 49, since he was detained by ICE on May 15. She also said she was bound by privacy considerations and could not share additional details. On Thursday, the day Canadian officials were made aware of Noviello's death, Anand said on social media that Ottawa was urgently seeking more information from U.S. officials. The exact cause of his death remains under investigation, ICE wrote on Thursday. Noviello entered the U.S. with a visa on Jan. 2, 1988. He became a permanent resident three years later. In October 2023, he was convicted in eastern Florida for racketeering and drug trafficking and sentenced to 12 months in prison. In May, he was arrested by ICE at a probations office and charged with removal for violating U.S. drug laws. Anand expressed her condolences to Noviello's family. With files from CTV's Stephane Ha
Globe and Mail
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Man who died in ICE custody among dozens of Canadians in immigration-related detention
Several dozen Canadians are currently in immigration-related detention in the United States, Global Affairs Canada confirmed Friday. This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said a Canadian man, Johnny Noviello, 49, had died in its custody in Florida. It is the 10th death in ICE custody this year. Mr. Noviello was a permanent resident of the United States and lived there for more than 30 years. In 2023, he was convicted of several drug-related charges. ICE arrested him on May 15 and charged him with removability because of his drug convictions. He was detained at a Federal Bureau of Prisons detention centre in Miami pending deportation proceedings and was found unresponsive on June 23. ICE said he received medical attention but was pronounced dead less than an hour later. The agency said the cause of death is under investigation. Global Affairs Canada said consular officials provide assistance to Canadian citizens who have been detained. On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand wrote on social media that Canadian consular officials were 'urgently seeking more information from U.S. officials' about Mr. Noviello's death. U.S. immigrants fear Trump's tightening dragnet Detention Watch Network, a non-governmental organization that seeks to abolish immigration detention in the U.S., said Mr. Noviello's death marks a 'grim milestone' in a sweeping roundup of non-citizens by U.S. authorities under President Donald Trump. 'There are currently more than 59,000 people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, an all-time high. Trump's cruel detention expansion is exacerbating inhumane conditions and expanding human rights abuses, with increasing reports of death, medical neglect, [and] overcrowding,' the NGO said in a statement Friday. The group said 10 people have died in custody since January, when Mr. Trump's second presidency began. ICE's own statistics show that the majority of the fatalities have occurred in Florida and neighbouring Georgia. ICE said in its statement that it is committed to ensuring those in its custody are in 'safe, secure and humane environments' and that medical care is provided. 'At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care.' While it is still not known how Mr. Noviello died, he had epilepsy and relied on medication. An agreement signed earlier this year by ICE and the Federal Bureau of Prisons lays out the procedures for the confinement of male immigration detainees at several U.S. prisons, including those held in as many as four units within the detention centre in Miami, where Mr. Noviello died. The agreement, which was obtained by the Miami Herald, states that in the event of a medical or mental health emergency, the Bureau of Prisons would 'immediately provide necessary emergency medical treatment, including initial on-site stabilization and off-site transport to an appropriate emergent care facility, as needed or via ambulance as clinically indicated.' The agreement also states that in the event of a death in custody, the deceased detainee should be turned over to the coroner as soon as possible. 'In case of a questionable death, the Special Investigative Agent (SIA) will work in cooperation with ICE on any on-going investigation.' The warden or the ICE district director, the agreement states, can order an autopsy after the death of any immigration detainee. Mr. Noviello is not the only Canadian to have died in ICE custody. In the summer of 2020, a 72-year-old Canadian died in hospital after he was held for nearly three months in a Virginia detention centre that had a major COVID-19 outbreak. Hundreds of detainees became infected with the coronavirus at the privately run facility operated on behalf of ICE, amid complaints of overcrowding and poor sanitation. James Hill, a former physician in Louisiana, was waiting to be deported after serving a 12-year sentence for writing OxyContin prescriptions without seeing patients. He had told relatives at the time that he had to sleep in a dorm with more than 80 men, with bunks crowded so closely together that sweat from other detainees dripped on him. He also said his lungs were irritated after guards used pepper spray to control detainees. In a May letter to federal officials, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other rights organizations flagged 'troubling systemic failures' in providing immigration detainees with access to legal support at FDC Miami. 'FDC-Miami has severely, and unlawfully, limited detained individuals' access to counsel by restricting access to telephone calls with attorneys,' the letter says. The federal prisons agency has agreed to place ICE detainees at eight facilities across the country, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement to the Globe. The spokesperson said the bureau could not comment on the number of detainees housed at any particular facility for 'privacy, safety, and security reasons.'
CTV News
21 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Canada issues latest update on efforts to help Canadians leave Middle East amid Israel-Iran conflict
Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand speaks at a press conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Thursday June 26, 2025. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP) Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has issued its latest update in its effort to assist Canadians hoping to leave the Middle East, amid a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Iran. According to GAC, more than 800 Canadians, permanent residents and eligible family members have left Israel, Iran and the West Bank, as of Thursday. The department also says it's offering consular services upon arrival in third safe locations, and is arranging transportation for Canadians hoping to leave the region. GAC has arranged for five more people to travel on buses from the West Bank to Jordan, and for seven more people to fly from Jordan to Greece on a chartered flight. In a post on X on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand also issued an update, writing that Israeli and Iranian airspace are open , though commercial flights may be limited. Canadians in the Middle East are being encouraged to register with GAC. As of Tuesday, there were 5,601 Canadians in Iran, 6,146 in Israel, 450 in the West Bank and Gaza, 7,112 in Qatar, and 1,017 in Iraq, according to GAC. 'Tensions between Israel and Iran remain high,' Anand wrote. The conflict between Israel and Iran escalated two weeks ago, when Israel attacked nuclear and military sites in Iran. Following Iranian retaliation and further assault from both sides, the U.S. also struck Iranian sites. The adversaries have since accepted a ceasefire, according to U.S. President Donald Trump. 'Israeli authorities have largely lifted restrictions across the country, allowing for a return to full activity,' according to the update from GAC. 'Reports from Iran point to a gradual return to normal activities.' The government has faced criticism for lacking efficiency in helping Canadians leave the Middle East, including from former Conservative MPs Michelle Ferreri and Rick Perkins, both of whom were in Israel when the conflict escalated. Both have since returned home. According to GAC, the department will reduce the frequency of its updates going forward as the ceasefire holds, but will issue them when there is new information.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Ottawa ‘urgently seeking more information' about death of Canadian citizen in Ice custody
Authorities in Canada are seeking information about the death of a 49-year-old Canadian man who died while in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody in Florida this week. In a statement, Ice, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said Johnny Noviello, 49, died on 23 June after being found unresponsive at a federal detention center in Miami, where he was being detained 'pending removal proceedings' from the US. 'Medical staff responded immediately and began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillator shock and called 911,' Ice stated. Noviello, who first entered the US in 1988 with a legal visa status and became a permanent resident (green card holder) three years later, was taken into Ice custody on 15 May. He was convicted of multiple drug charges, including racketeering and drug trafficking in Volusia county, Florida, and sentenced to 12 months in prison in 2023. On May 15, he was arrested by Ice and deemed removable from the US because of the controlled substance convictions, the statement said. Canada's foreign minister, Anita Anand, posted on X that the Canadian authorities had been notified of Noviello's death while in custody in the US and Canadian consular officials 'are urgently seeking more information from US officials'. Noviello is the ninth person to die in Ice custody this year, and the fourth to die in a Florida facility, according to the Miami Herald. 'Ice remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,' the agency said in its statement, adding that 'at no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care'. The federal government can revoke green cards and deport their holders for committing certain crimes, including drug trafficking and other serious felonies. Daniel Leising, a lawyer who represented Noviello in the 2023 racketeering case involving selling opioids – oxycodone, hydromorphine and hydrocodone – in Daytona Beach, said his client 'was just working, nothing out of the ordinary, no violations, nothing else. There was nothing on my mind that would've created any circumstance where Johnny Noviello would have been a danger to anyone.' Leising told the outlet that Noviello's family said he had epilepsy and was on seizure medication and they had worked 'painstakingly to make sure that he got his meds'.
