Minister & HERC Member Work to Change Immigration Laws

By Kaniethonkie.

Kenneth Deer sits at a bench holding his Haudenosaunee passport. Wearing a purple ribbon shirt, it's the same color as the passport he holds up. He talks about the difficulties Indigenous people face when living between three countries: the Mohawk Nation, Canada, and the United States.

"We should be able to travel across the border freely"

"It's incredibly frustrating and it's also demeaning for the Government of Canada to say you can't cross freely in your own homeland," Deer said.

Deer, is a member of the Haudenosaunee External Relations Committee (HERC), and for the last thirty years, Deer has been working on amending international immigration legislation. This past summer, Deer travel to the Untied Nations 16th Session of EMRIP in Geneva, Switzerland. He was accompanied by the Matrilineal Order of the Haudenosaunee Women as a show of force and support. It turned out to be much more than a show as each Haudenosaunee woman traveled on a Haudenosaunee passport to attend the 100 Anniversary of Deskaheh in Geneva.

Deer said, "My passport has been stamped many times, Montreal. Zurich, Geneva, New York City."

Deer doesn't see himself as Canadian, "We prefer to identify ourselves as Mohawk and travel back and forth in our homeland as Mohawk. The U.S. recognizes a treaty that allows Indigenous people to travel across the border freely."

But in Canada, it's not accepted, forcing Deer to constantly explain and justify his right to travel through his territory that stretches across the Canada - US border.

In an interview he went on to say, "It is incredibly frustrating and also it's demeaning for the Government of Canada to say that you can't cross freely in your own homeland."

Deer said of Marc Miller, who is currently Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada ' has learned a lot about the issue when Miller served as Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and as Minister of Indigenous Services.

Indeed, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he wants to make it easier for Indigenous people to cross the international borders that have divided their homelands and families for generations. In an interview with CBC News, Miller said Canada should recognize Indigenous people have an inherent right to move freely across international boundaries.

Miller said, "That's something that I think we need to fix as a country."

He went on to add, "It'll take time, but it is one of my top priorities. It's long overdue that Canada take this issue seriously."

After years of building meaningful relations with Indigenous First Nations, Miller was moved from the Crown-Indigenous relations portfolio to immigration over the summer. Trudeau's transfer of Miller was meet with open disappointment from Indigenous leaders and community members alike.

In a rare interview with Indian Time Newspaper, Miller said he was most proud of the relationships he had built and the trust that came from building those relationships – not only with Indigenous leaders, but with many community members within each First Nation.

On the table could be a ministerial directive and amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that would exempt from immigration requirements Indigenous people whose traditional homelands extend beyond Canada's borders.

Miller's commitment is part of the federal government's roadmap for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"That is encouraging and now we look forward to some action," said Deer, as a HERC member who deals with border crossing issues. Deer said he wants Miller to adjust the legislation to ensure their rights are recognized and are never overturned. We need something there that's permanent ... so our children, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will always have access to their homeland."

The U.S. recognizes the historical clauses of the Jay Treaty, which was signed by the U.K. and U.S. in 1794, before Confederation. The treaty states that Native Americans may travel freely across the international boundaries and Indigenous Peoples in Canada are entitled to enter the U.S. freely to work, study, retire, invest or immigrate.

However, Canada doesn't recognize those rights.

Miller has no intention of recognizing the Jay Treaty saying part of the problem with the treaty is that it applies only to people with at least 50 per cent of what it calls "American Indian race" a rule Miller calls inherently 'racist.'

"We need to recognize something a little more fundamental than the Jay Treaty," Miller said.

"We have to first start by doing our job under it, which is to recognize Indigenous Peoples' right to move freely across borders."