August 24th is now officially Undocumented Residents Day in Toronto. It was proclaimed today at City Hall by Toronto Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik, in a moving event hosted in partnership with FCJ Refugee Centre and the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI).

The event included remarks from the City of Toronto, the powerful testimony of an undocumented person and allies, and a panel discussion featuring Executive Director of OCASI, Debbie Douglas; Founder of FCJ Refugee Centre, Loly Rico; Executive Director at Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Syed Hussan; and City of Toronto Social Development, Finance & Administration Executive Director, Denise Andrea Campbell.

The panelists talked about the hard realities and important contributions of undocumented residents, about the need for a broad and inclusive Regularization Program, and about the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment.

Among other things, the participants highlighted the contradictions of a system that considers many of the jobs that immigrants do as essential, while treating the migrants who do those jobs as disposable.

The proclamation of Undocumented Residents Day is an important step on the long road that still needs to be traveled towards a more inclusive, welcoming and fair Toronto.