| Wednesday April 23, 6:30 pm (CST) 8:30 (EDT) On Zoom Amnesty International Group 33 Saskatoon is inviting you to an important discussion about the mass-scale detentions, disappearances and deportations of a projected one million people within a year. Amnesty International is at the forefront of this human rights catastrophe. To Register, go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/elOLxhwtTcmB9a9V2-Yxng Our Panel Tarah Demant (National Director of Programs at AIUSA) manages Amnesty’s ‘Government Relations and Advocacy’ unit that delivers the human rights influence to the White House, US Departments of State, Justice, and Health and Human Services, the US Congress, and UN offices. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera America, Time, USA Today, Huffington Post, ThinkProgress.org, PRI, The Nation, and other media. Hilary Homes (Amnesty Canada’s Crisis Response & Tactical Campaigner) is largely responsible for the internationally focused work of the Branch. She monitors about 20-25 country situations, covers thematic areas such as Protect the Protest, the arms trade and sports & human rights, and provides support for major projects such as Write for Rights. Her current priorities include IOPT/Gaza, the USA, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and Mozambique. Her work on the USA is focused on the mass deportation campaign, including the case of Mahmoud Khalil. Bill Rafoss (active member of Group 33 Saskatoon) is formerly the National Board Chair of Amnesty Canada, a Sessional Instructor in the Political Studies department at the U of S, a student of law at Queen’s University and Oxford University, and Chief Investigator at the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. Martin Gaal (lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan in Political Studies and International Studies) has worked in South Korea, China, Taiwan, Belgium and the United Kingdom, at the European Parliament and with Copura, the European Security and Defence consultancy. The clearest statement of the ICE’s ideal deportation system was made in a recent speech by Todd Lyons, the government’s Acting ICE director: ‘Squads of trucks rounding up immigrants the same way that Amazon (Prime) trucks crisscross American cities delivering packages. We need to get better at treating this like a business.’ – Arizona Mirror, April 9, 2025 ‘Immigrant’ is now a code word for anyone, refugees, immigrants, US citizens, college students, tourists entering and leaving the US. Who else? How far can it go? The Discussion Will:Lay out the broad changes during the 94 days since Donald Trump’s second inauguration;Examine the deportation scheme with its many violations of fundamental human rights;Explain actions being taken by Amnesty USA and Amnesty Canada. The Panel is prepared to explore whatever you’re wondering, including:Who is really being targeted and what is happening to them? Who besides ICE is involved?Where is the line separating legal actions from illegal ones? What does it mean if the US government defies rulings even by the Supreme Court to return people who are provably innocent, or were denied due process?Who besides AIUSA and Amnesty Canada is pushing back, speaking out, defending rights, providing sanctuary, offering material assistance?What if any repercussions will the US Administration face for its violations of international law?What should this mean to Canadians? What is Amnesty suggesting Canadians do? Join Us!  |
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