We too are having the same occurrences here with illegal immigrants who have been here for years and are now facing deportation.
Perhaps the impetus for Lightfoot's foray into the Immigration policies/motives/sensibilities (of the U.S. and Canada) was the Trudeau governments new Immigration Act of 1976. The matter had been before the public for a few years prior to being enacted. I'm sure it may have played an integral part in the tone of the song:
The Immigration Act of 1976
Overall, the tone of the 1976 legislation is more positive and more liberal in intent than the 1967 Act. As well as a means of achieving the government's demographic and economic goals, the 1976 Act represented immigration as a source of social and cultural enrichment. It expressly prohibited discrimination against immigrants, on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion or sex.
The 1976 Act required the government to announce in advance its planned annual intake levels. It also strengthened provisions for family reunification and, for the first time, created a separate refugee class. This policy innovation enabled the country to fulfill its international obligations in respect to refugees and began the process of regularizing Canada's previously sporadic approach to "the displaced and the persecuted".
Although the state retained considerable power to detain and deport immigrants on security and criminal grounds, the 1976 Act narrowed the grounds for exclusion and deportation.
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