Frozen, Invisible, Indefinite: Immigration Detention in Canada and the Carceral Violence of Temporal Torment

In this paper, we present initial findings and analysis from an ongoing study on immigration detention in Canada. Participants who have been or are currently in immigration detention systems in Canada shared stories of dehumanizing torment and the abuse of their right to timely procedural fairness during their time in detention, in lockdown, and in transit. Drawing on critical disability studies and critical mental health literature using postcolonial theoretical framework, we show how participants resisted by caring for themselves and others in the present, and by imagining their freedom in the future. Through an analysis of interviews and focus groups, this paper discusses temporal torment as a manifestation of carceral violence in immigration detention in Canada. Immigration detainees experience time as static, where they are frozen in a state of paralysis, as though their time in detention does not matter or is not worthwhile. The frequency of Canada Border Services Agency consultations was experienced as restricted access to due process and the abuse of rights was lived as a method of indefinite carceral violence. The contributions from the participants highlight the complexities of carceral violence that are experienced through immigration detention in Canada, which functions as a denial of humanity, rights, and care, and highlights the need for urgent intervention.