In the shadow of the U.S embassy, a small group of demonstrators lined the sidewalk on July 17 to condemn the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown against undocumented immigrants and others — including some Canadians travelling south of the border.
The protesters held signs with slogans calling for the “ICE to melt” while others were plastered with the faces of Canadians who fell victim in recent months to the controversial actions of the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — widely known as ICE — under orders from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ottawa Indivisible — a chapter of the U.S.-based grassroots movement Indivisible — organized the embassy protest to spread awareness about what they described as the inhumane conditions and unlawful actions currently taking place in the U.S immigration system.
“They have now started building things that meet the definition of concentration camps,” claimed Andrea Asgregor, one of the protest organizers. “They’ve started detaining people and they’re not following due process or standard law. So it’s very concerning.”
She added: “It’s not just going to be a U.S. problem. It’s going to be a worldwide problem.”
Sleeping on bare floors in overcrowded rooms, tiny portions of spoiled food and withheld access to critical healthcare are just some of the conditions detainees have faced, according to a recent investigation by the New York Times.
Detention facilities across the U.S had more than 56,000 immigrants in custody as of July 13, exceeding the system’s current capacity of 41,000. Among them are 55 Canadians remain stranded in detention centres awaiting trial.
“Fifty-five Canadians are being held in ICE detention,” said Ella Heyder, another protest organizer. “And one of them, Johnny Noviello, has died in detention.”
Noviello, 49, was found dead at a federal detention centre in Miami on June 23. A longtime U.S. resident who had been convicted of drug trafficking in 2023, Noviello had been in ICE custody since May 15. He was diagnosed with hypertension and seizure disorder the day after his intake.
Despite receiving anticonvulsant and blood pressure medication, his physical and mental health was on the decline.
In the weeks leading up to his death, Noviello faced several health problems, according to a report released a month after he died.
“A provider evaluated Mr. Noviello, by request of a BHP (behavioural health provider), and documented Mr. Noviello maintained poor personal hygiene and stated he had not eaten in ‘a while,'” according to the report.
A care provider discussed with Noviello “the importance of self-hygiene and proper diet,” the report added.
“Necessary trouble”
As part of the “Good Trouble Lives On” movement, a national day observed in the U.S on July 17 to honour the legacy of the late American congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis, organizers said the Ottawa protest answered the call to stand up, speak out and make “necessary trouble” for justice and equality.
“I’m old and I’ve seen where things start,” said protester Joce Lyn. “When they sprout they’re very very small, then they get really, really large . . . And unless we take a real serious stand . . . they’re [ICE] going to come for everyone.”
Lyn added that, “the Trump people are dangerous, there’s nothing comedic about it. Trump has stopped being a clown.”
Since the second Trump administration was installed in the White House in January, ICE operations have intensified with raids on workplaces and arrests for alleged immigration violations. Within the first month of Trump’s presidency, monthly ICE arrests had increased by 627 per cent and more than 20,000 immigrants had been arrested compared with 33,000 for all of 2024 under the previous administration of president Joe Biden.
Six months after Trump took office, nearly 150,000 ICE deportations have been documented — an average of more than 800 removals a day, according to a recent CBS News article. It’s a far cry from the set quota of 3,000 deportations a day pushed for by the Trump administration. But if the current rate of arrests continues, the agency would be deporting more than 300,000 immigrants during Trump’s first year back in office.
In May, Trump’s national security adviser Stephen Miller “set a quota of ICE arrests for 3,000 people a day,” Asgregor said. “They didn’t have the resources to implement that, but now that Trump has passed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act they’ve quadrupled their detention budget. So it’s very scary.”
“Trump’s Big Ugly Bill“
On July 3, the U.S. Congress passed Trump’s new budget allocation bill, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law the following afternoon.
The legislation will provide ICE with $45 billion to increase detention facilities and expand custody capacity with another $30 billion for detainment, transportation and employment.
Trump is going to “have the means to arrest and detain people, families and children indefinitely, without due process.” said Asgregor. “This is a Canadian problem, too. Any Canadian who travels to the U.S. for any reason is going be at risk now.”
The threat of stricter immigration policy is not confined to the U.S. Prime Minister Mark Carney has introduced the 127-page Strong Borders Act in response to “concerns that have been posed by the White House,” according to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree in comments to reporters in early July.
At the same time, Anandasangaree said the new legislation is “delivering a win for Canada, ensuring that our borders are safer, our communities are safer.”
Introduced in the House of Commons in early June, Bill C-2 would place time limits on asylum seekers to make claims and prevent anyone who has been in the country for more than a year from receiving refugee hearings. It would also provide authority to the immigration minister’s office to cancel immigration documents en masse, according to critics.
“This Bill C-2, the Stronger Border Act — which has been condemned by Amnesty International — introduces U.S-style border enforcement, where migrants are seen as a security threat,” argued Heyder.
“Instead of providing fair immigration processes that Canadians expect, it proposes that we deal with possible future increases in refugee claims . . . by removing protections all together, that likely violate the charter of international law.”
Despite considerable opposition to Bill C-2, Canadian views on immigration have shifted in recent years, with 58 per cent now believing the country accepts too many immigrants, reflecting a 14-per-cent increase in that viewpoint since 2023, according to a 2024 report by Environics Institute.
“The rise in authoritarianism isn’t just a U.S phenomenon, it’s a worldwide phenomenon — and it could happen here very, very easily. We’re not safe from it,” said Asgregor. “So it’s very important to draw attention to this and make sure it doesn’t happen to Canada.”
In a June 17 statement issued “to clarify” aspects of the bill, the Canadian government acknowledged that the Strong Borders Act would allow it to “cancel, suspend or change immigration documents, and to suspend, cancel or stop accepting new applications when it’s determined to be in the public interest. These measures would improve our ability to respond to crises and unexpected events by updating how we manage immigration documents.”
The clarification statement added that: “The new legislation does not grant the Government of Canada the authority to cancel asylum claims. The expanded authorities would apply only to immigration documents and applications for documents — such as visas, electronic travel authorizations, and work and study permits — not asylum claims.”
