Case Studies—The Appeals Division of the IRB: Stories of Resistance

Abstract

In this chapter we detail an overview of the cases and case data from the Appeals Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board as well as cases that go on to the Federal Court of Canada analyzed in this study. These documents are the only known public records on deportation and were retrieved from the Canadian Legal Information Institute database and the Federal Court decision database. These cases provide both a representation of the technologies, practices, and laws at work at the confluence of mental health, immigration, and criminal justice systems specific to deportation in Canada, while also depicting a unique and powerful act of resistance to systems of dehumanization, identification, incarceration, and removal in Canada. The analysis of the descriptive data for the 75 cases matching the criteria (those appeal cases for deportation for those identified with mental health issues) from 2001 to 2011, (the most complete and recent years for analysis at the commencement of this study) reveals the overwhelming prioritization of racialized countries for deportation. The idea of fair procedures or due process are also held suspect when we see that an overwhelming majority of cases result in decisions for either deportation or the imposition of heavy restrictions, confinement, forced treatment, and reporting requirements.