A permanent resident of Canada, convicted of possessing horrific child sexual abuse material, continues to fight his removal from the country eight years after his initial arrest, exposing significant flaws in the immigration system's ability to expel serious criminals.
A Disturbing Discovery at the Border
The case of Navinder Singh began to unravel in March 2018. Having just received his permanent residency confirmation at the end of February that year, Singh traveled from Alberta to Montana and back in a practice known as "flagpoling" to finalize his status. During this re-entry at the border, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers grew suspicious of his driver's licence.
When officers examined his phone, they discovered a cache of appalling videos. According to Alberta provincial court records, the material included 19 videos of child sexual abuse, focusing on infant boys from newborn to four years old. The evidence depicted violent sexual assaults, bestiality, and penetrative acts between children.
One particularly brutal video showed several men hitting two naked girls—one teenager and one 12-year-old—with sticks, poking them, and forcibly spreading their legs open as the crying victims tried to flee. Another harrowing recording featured two very young, partially clothed children being beaten by an elderly man with a switch; a boy was hung from the ceiling by a device attached to his neck.
Systemic Failures and a Lack of Remorse
Singh, who first arrived in Canada in 2013 on a temporary foreign worker permit, demonstrated a profound incompatibility with Canadian society and its values. He later told a forensic psychologist he found the abusive videos "funny" and suggested that "things were different in India," indicating he did not share the Western taboo against child sexual abuse.
Further investigation revealed Singh was a member of five or six WhatsApp groups dedicated to sharing child pornography. He even showed the videos to his wife, who, in a pre-sentence report, told a probation officer she had no concerns about her husband and considered him a good father. Notably, despite being in Canada on a work permit since 2016, she required an interpreter to speak with police, highlighting another layer of failed integration.
An Immigration System That Fights to Keep Him
Despite the gravity of his crimes and his clear lack of remorse, Canada's immigration system has repeatedly provided avenues for Singh to remain. Eight years after his 2018 arrest, Singh was still in Canada battling deportation in 2024, and it is possible he remains today.
His case underscores multiple failure points: the initial admission of a temporary foreign worker without screening for fundamental moral values, the granting of permanent residency just before his arrest, and the protracted legal and appeals process that has stalled his removal for nearly a decade. This situation raises serious questions about the system's priority in protecting Canadian society from individuals convicted of heinous crimes.
The prolonged fight to deport Navinder Singh serves as a stark example of how immigration loopholes and procedural delays can allow those deemed unfit to stay in Canada, potentially endangering the community and undermining public trust in the enforcement framework.
