B/ordering and healthcare access for migrants with precarious status: The role of healthcare workers in counteracting restrictive policies

In Canada, precarious migration is largely invisibilized. Nonetheless, b/ordering greatly affects people's realities by limiting access to social rights. In Quebec, migrants with precarious status (MPS) do not have access to healthcare, although Quebec has a "universal" healthcare coverage. In this study, we were interested in (1) documenting the reality of care workers working with MPS, and (2) analyzing it through the lens of b/ordering. Between September 2022 and May 2024, we conducted participatory research with our partner Doctors of the World. In a three-step process (1) interviews, (2) observations, and (3) workshops, we explored care workers' experiences, challenges, and strategies. Our analysis revealed: (1) impacts of restrictive policies on MPS material and social lives, (2) impacts of these policies on care workers' work environment, social life, and well-being, and (3) care workers' strategies to resist b/ordering and to find meaning to their engagement. In this article, we argue that b/ordering is at play for care workers who find themselves in position of (re)affirming border control, disrupting it, or creating new forms of borders. We discuss community psychologists' role to support migrants' justice in the context of an increasing use of b/ordering by state institutions.