Latest news with #visas
CBC
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Lawyer calls on Canada to speed up visa approvals as situation worsens in Gaza
Social Sharing A Toronto immigration lawyer says family members of Canadians are dying in Gaza as the federal immigration department drags its heels approving visas through a special program launched in 2024. Debbie Rachlis said Canada must speed up the approval process for the temporary special measures visa it is offering to members of Palestinian Canadians' families who are trying to flee the violence in Gaza. Rachlis represents dozens of applicants to the program and said she is involved with "at least five cases" in which people have died waiting for word on their visa. She lobbied for the special measures program as a member of the Gaza Family Reunification Project. "We are all aware of many, many situations where people who were waiting for visas to come to Canada have died and have been killed," Rachlis said in a recent interview. That includes people who have died of starvation, or injuries from bombings, and people who have been killed while lining up to get rations, she said. "They are all preventable and terrible deaths." CANADA | Canada attending UN assembly on 2-state solution: Canada to attend UN General Assembly conference on two-state solution 2 hours ago Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is joining dozens of ministers at the United Nations for a delayed conference to work toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, the conference was postponed in June after Israel attacked Iran. Backlog of special visas for family members stuck in Gaza Canada opened the multi-step program offering temporary residents visas to members of Canadians' families trapped in Gaza on Jan. 9, 2024. It closed on March 26, after the program's cap of 5,000 visa applications had been accepted for processing. Fewer than 1,200 visas had been granted as of June 21, said Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesperson for the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. That's less than a quarter of the visas Canada said it would hand out. Eight hundred and forty-one people had arrived in Canada from Gaza as of June 8, MacDonald said in an email. WATCH | Aid drops have resumed in Gaza: Israel resumes Gaza aid drops after international criticism over hunger crisis 24 hours ago The visa program requires applicants to submit biometric information — including fingerprints and photos — collected in-person at an IRCC office. There is no such office in Gaza. The Canadian Press has spoken to several Palestinian Canadians who paid thousands of dollars for their family members in Gaza to pay private agents for passage across the border in Cairo, where there is a Canadian immigration office to collect biometric data. The Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt has been closed since May 2024. "The primary challenge continues to be the ability for people to exit Gaza," MacDonald said. "Movement out of Gaza remains extremely challenging and may not be possible at this time, as countries and other actors set their own entry and exit requirements." "We continue working closely with local authorities — at every level — to facilitate the exit of people in Gaza and to advocate for their safety," he added. Rachlis noted that other western countries have dropped the biometrics requirement. She wondered why Canada wouldn't do the same, especially as the situation for Palestinians in Gaza worsens. Famine risk continues to worsen in Gaza Food experts have warned for months of the risk of famine in Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid because it says Hamas siphons off goods to help bolster its rule, without providing evidence for that claim. Images emerging from Gaza in recent days of emaciated children have fanned global criticism of Israel, including by close allies who have called for an end to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe it has spawned. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the Israeli government for its "failure to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza" and criticized its handling of humanitarian aid in Gaza as a "violation of international law." WATCH | Aid groups warn of mass starvation in Gaza: Gaza faces mass starvation as hunger deaths rise, aid groups say 5 days ago WARNING: Video contains distressing images | Malnutrition is claiming more lives in Gaza, according to aid groups working in the region, leaving some parents desperate with starving children. Israel is blaming Hamas for manufacturing the crisis. On Sunday, the Israeli military on began a daily 10-hour pause in fighting in three areas of Gaza, to "increase the scale of humanitarian aid" entering the territory. Health officials in Gaza said at least 37 Palestinians were killed in separate strikes from late Saturday into Sunday, including 22 people seeking aid. Applicants stuck in Egypt The situation in Cairo is also precarious for those waiting for visas, Rachlis said. She has many clients who managed to get to Cairo and complete the biometrics requirement. They've been waiting for a year or more for word on their visa application status, she said. They have no medical care in Egypt and their children cannot go to school, she said. They are largely living off the fundraising efforts of charities and their families in Canada. "We need to speed up processing for folks who are in Egypt," she said, adding that she believes much of the delay stems from the "intense scrutiny" applicants to the visa program are subject to. Applicants are asked to supply their social media accounts, details about scars and other marks on their bodies, information on everyone they are related to — including through marriage — and every passport they have ever had. Last year, The Canadian Press obtained a letter sent to an applicant by a Canadian immigration officer which asks if they had "ever provided medical care to injured Hamas members." It is a violation of the Geneva Convention for medical workers to deny care to someone injured in a war zone. Rachlis said families need quicker information about their applications so they can make arrangements and get to safety.
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Venezuelan baseball team denied visas into US, Little League International says
A Venezuelan baseball team was denied visas into the United States and will miss this year's Senior Baseball World Series, Little League International confirmed Friday. The Cacique Mara team, from Maracaibo, Venezuela, was scheduled to participate in the tournament after winning the Latin American championship in Mexico. 'The Cacique Mara Little League team from Venezuela was unfortunately unable to obtain the appropriate visas to travel to the Senior League Baseball World Series,' Little League International said in a statement, adding that it is 'extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.' The Venezuelan team traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for their visas at the U.S. embassy in Bogotá. The embassy did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment. 'It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship,' the team said in a statement. 'What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?' Venezuela is among a list of countries with restrictions for entering the U.S. or its territories. President Donald Trump has banned travel to the U.S. from 12 other countries, citing national security concerns. Earlier in the month, the Cuban women's volleyball team was denied visas to participate in a tournament in Puerto Rico. 'They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state, of his country,' said Kendrick Gutiérrez, the league's president in Venezuela. 'It hasn't been easy the situation; we earned the right to represent Latin America in the World Championship.' The Senior League Baseball World Series, a tournament for players aged 13-16, is played each year in Easley, South Carolina. It begins Saturday. The tournament organizers replaced the Venezuelans with the Santa Maria de Aguayo team from Tamaulipas, Mexico, the team that was a runner-up in the Latin American championship. 'I think this is the first time this has happened, but it shouldn't end this way. They're going to replace us with another team because relations have been severed; it's not fair,' Gutiérrez added. 'I don't understand why they put Mexico in at the last minute and left Venezuela out.'
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Venezuelan baseball team denied visas into US, Little League International says
A Venezuelan baseball team was denied visas into the United States and will miss this year's Senior Baseball World Series, Little League International confirmed Friday. The Cacique Mara team, from Maracaibo, Venezuela, was scheduled to participate in the tournament after winning the Latin American championship in Mexico. 'The Cacique Mara Little League team from Venezuela was unfortunately unable to obtain the appropriate visas to travel to the Senior League Baseball World Series,' Little League International said in a statement, adding that it is 'extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.' The Venezuelan team traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for their visas at the U.S. embassy in Bogotá. The embassy did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment. 'It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship,' the team said in a statement. 'What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?' Venezuela is among a list of countries with restrictions for entering the U.S. or its territories. President Donald Trump has banned travel to the U.S. from 12 other countries, citing national security concerns. Earlier in the month, the Cuban women's volleyball team was denied visas to participate in a tournament in Puerto Rico. 'They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state, of his country,' said Kendrick Gutiérrez, the league's president in Venezuela. 'It hasn't been easy the situation; we earned the right to represent Latin America in the World Championship.' The Senior League Baseball World Series, a tournament for players aged 13-16, is played each year in Easley, South Carolina. It begins Saturday. The tournament organizers replaced the Venezuelans with the Santa Maria de Aguayo team from Tamaulipas, Mexico, the team that was a runner-up in the Latin American championship. 'I think this is the first time this has happened, but it shouldn't end this way. They're going to replace us with another team because relations have been severed; it's not fair,' Gutiérrez added. 'I don't understand why they put Mexico in at the last minute and left Venezuela out.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Venezuelan Little League team forced to skip World Series after Trump team denies visa for annual event
The Trump administration has declined to issue visas to a champion teenage Venezuelan youth baseball team to play in the upcoming Senior League World Series in the U.S. The team, Cacique Mara of Maracaibo, Venezuela, said they traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for U.S. visas for the tournament, but were rejected under the Trump administration's June travel ban. 'The players are demoralized,' Cacique Mara wrote in a statement in Spanish on social media earlier this week. 'The only thing that they know is baseball. They want to go to compete and put the name Venezuela and Latin American on high. They don't represent any threat, they are 15-year-olds that want to win the world series.' Little League International, which organizes the weeklong teen tournament in South Carolina, said in a statement the denial was "extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes." The Independent has contacted the State Department and the U.S. embassy in Colombia for comment. In June, the administration announced travel bans on 12 countries, as well as partial limits on another seven nations, including Venezuela, citing the need to protect Americans from 'foreign terrorists' and other national security threats. The restrictions have exceptions, including for athletes traveling to major tournaments. "They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state, of his country," Kendrick Gutiérrez, president of the Venezuela Little League organization, told ESPN. "It hasn't been easy, the situation. We earned the right to represent Latin America in the world championship." The White House has repeatedly butted heads with Venezuela. The Trump administration has contradicted its own intelligence community and accused Venezuela of collaborating with the Tren de Aragua gang, whom the U.S. considers a terrorist group. Venezuela also temporarily declined to accept repatriation flights from the U.S., and sharply criticized U.S. officials for the summary deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador on gang allegations. The men have since returned to Venezuela in a prisoner swap with the U.S. Cacique Mara clinched a spot in the tournament in Easley last month, winning all five of its games in the Latin American Little League Championship in Mexico. They will now be replaced with the No. 2 team from that tournament, Santa Maria de Aguayo, from Victoria, Mexico. The 12-team Senior League World Series, for players aged 13 to 16, begins Saturday and runs through August. Venezuelan teams have won the games three times, most recently in 2006.
CBS News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Latin American champion, Venezuelan little league team denied U.S. visas
A Venezuelan baseball team was denied visas into the United States and will miss this year's Senior Baseball World Series, Little League International confirmed Friday. The Cacique Mara team, from Maracaibo, Venezuela, was scheduled to participate in the tournament after winning the Latin American championship in Mexico. "The Cacique Mara Little League team from Venezuela was unfortunately unable to obtain the appropriate visas to travel to the Senior League Baseball World Series," Little League International said in a statement, adding that it is "extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes." The Venezuelan team traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for their visas at the U.S. embassy in Bogotá. The embassy did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment. "It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship," the team said in a statement. "What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?" Venezuela is among a list of countries with restrictions for entering the U.S. or its territories. President Donald Trump has banned travel to the U.S. from 12 other countries, citing national security concerns. Earlier in the month, the Cuban women's volleyball team was denied visas to participate in a tournament in Puerto Rico. "They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state, of his country," said Kendrick Gutiérrez, the league's president in Venezuela. "It hasn't been easy the situation; we earned the right to represent Latin America in the World Championship." The Senior League Baseball World Series, a tournament for players aged 13-16, is played each year in Easley, South Carolina. It begins Saturday. The tournament organizers replaced the Venezuelans with the Santa Maria de Aguayo team from Tamaulipas, Mexico, the team that was a runner-up in the Latin American championship. "I think this is the first time this has happened, but it shouldn't end this way. They're going to replace us with another team because relations have been severed; it's not fair," Gutiérrez added. "I don't understand why they put Mexico in at the last minute and left Venezuela out."
