Wife of man picked up by CBSA says crews filmed it for TV

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The wife of a man who has been picked up by Canada Border Services Agency in Vancouver, as part of an apparent raid on illegal migrant workers, is in disbelief; agents are said to have been accompanied by a reality TV camera crew.

Diana Thompson says her husband Renan was taken into custody yesterday at a construction site. He has told her a camera crew was there, and he’s now been asked to sign a waiver form, which he’s refused.

“This is already a bad situation when somebody gets picked up, but to add this to it, the cameras in their face…” she trails off. “It’s really disgusting.”

NDP MP Libby Davies says the agency and the federal government have a lot of explaining to do.

“To actually have the gall to ask people to sign waivers when they are in a precarious legal situation — and they probably need a lawyer — and to stick that in front of them, I mean I just find it outrageous,” she tells us.

Harsha Walia with the group No One is Illegal is also troubled.

“I think the fact that, you know, the sheer scale of this raid, the fact that it was coordinated, the fact that it’s coupled with a reality show is extremely disturbing. And really, just the fact that these raids are even happening.”

Thompson says her husband, who is originally from Honduras, will have a hearing soon.

The Border Services Agency confirms several foreign nationals have been arrested at one site. CBSA also insists participation in the TV series is voluntary, and a person’s case will not be affected by the decision to take part or not.

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