The offices of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and the Canada Border Services Agency won’t say if they will stay the deportation of a family that fears violence at the hands of a guerrilla organization in Colombia.
Mississauga residents Claudia Londono, her husband Juan Martinez, and sons Sebastian Martinez, 13 and Camilo Martinez, 4, are scheduled to be sent back to Colombia this weekend.
Sebastian’s mother believes the family will face retaliation from a guerrilla group known for the abduction and torture of prominent Colombian citizens called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, best known by its Spanish acronym, FARC.
She worked as a prison psychologist in Colombia where she encouraged members to cut their ties with the organization.
Kenney’s office has referred previous requests for comment to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. A CIC spokesperson has said Kenney “does not have the authority” to stop a deportation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The last response to requests for comment was on Wednesday. The decision is up to the Canada Border Services Agency, she said.
The CBSA will not comment on the specific case, citing privacy rules, but said the agency takes the decision to deport people who have been ordered removed from the country very seriously.
NDP and Liberal critics have called on Kenney to stay the deportation and for his office to review the case but it has not resulted in a change in the family’s status.
On Friday New Democrat MP Don Davies, critic for Citizenship and Immigration continued to call for Kenney’s office to stop the deportation.
“I urge the Minister to personally review this case. The consequences of a wrong decision here could be fatal,” said Davies in an emailed statement.
He said “staying the deportation to properly review” the families pending application to stay in the country on humanitarian and compassionate grounds is “prudent and justified.”
Earlier in the week Davies said he had “serious questions about the decisions made in this case,” and said the idea a decision was made that the family didn’t face serious danger seemed “perverse to me.”
Liberal critic MP Kevin Lamoureux told the Star because there are two young children involved Kenney “needs to be aware of the file and be comfortable that the family’s (case) has been given due consideration,” before they are deported.
“This should not be something that takes weeks. This should be something that takes days, if not hours for (Kenney’s) office to review,” said Lamoureux on Wednesday
The family has made several attempts to obtain refugee status. They were granted a short-term deferral of their original deportation date but that extension has run out. They are awaiting the outcome of an attempt to stay on “humanitarian and compassionate grounds.”
Londono, her husband and two boys spent the first part of Canada Day enjoying a meal with friends and preparing to say their goodbyes. The bulk of their possessions have been packed and stored with a moving company to be shipped to Colombia.
They also received a call from New Democrat leader Jack Layton’s office to let them know a request to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews office to intervene in the deportation pending the outcome of their latest application was denied.
Layton’s office had also contacted Kenney’s office asking for a stay of deportation but were informed the Minister's office would not be stepping in, said a spokesperson for Layton.
Sebastian’s friends have mounted a social media campaign to keep their classmate in Canada by using the hashtag #savesebastian on Twitter. Messages about the teen and his family quickly spread across Canada.
Their story was also posted on microblogging site tumblr, a Facebook page called Save Sebastian and used to create an online family petition to send to Kenney.
By 5 p.m. on Friday the petition had almost 2,500 signatures. Friends and supporters have also created videos on YouTube, a classmate sharing her support and a photo montage.
Sebastian, 13, just graduated from Grade 8 at Sts. Martha and Mary Catholic School where he is a catcher on his school’s baseball team and competes in track and field.
In Canada his parents work as drivers for a company that provides assessments for medical insurance claims, he for a trucking company. They chose the location of their Mississauga apartment to give him a chance to attend the well regarded Catholic school.
The family entered the United States on a tourist visa in 1999 and crossed the border illegally into Canada to seek asylum in 2008.
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
Mississauga residents Claudia Londono, her husband Juan Martinez, and sons Sebastian Martinez, 13 and Camilo Martinez, 4, are scheduled to be sent back to Colombia this weekend.
Sebastian’s mother believes the family will face retaliation from a guerrilla group known for the abduction and torture of prominent Colombian citizens called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, best known by its Spanish acronym, FARC.
She worked as a prison psychologist in Colombia where she encouraged members to cut their ties with the organization.
Kenney’s office has referred previous requests for comment to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. A CIC spokesperson has said Kenney “does not have the authority” to stop a deportation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The last response to requests for comment was on Wednesday. The decision is up to the Canada Border Services Agency, she said.
The CBSA will not comment on the specific case, citing privacy rules, but said the agency takes the decision to deport people who have been ordered removed from the country very seriously.
NDP and Liberal critics have called on Kenney to stay the deportation and for his office to review the case but it has not resulted in a change in the family’s status.
On Friday New Democrat MP Don Davies, critic for Citizenship and Immigration continued to call for Kenney’s office to stop the deportation.
“I urge the Minister to personally review this case. The consequences of a wrong decision here could be fatal,” said Davies in an emailed statement.
He said “staying the deportation to properly review” the families pending application to stay in the country on humanitarian and compassionate grounds is “prudent and justified.”
Earlier in the week Davies said he had “serious questions about the decisions made in this case,” and said the idea a decision was made that the family didn’t face serious danger seemed “perverse to me.”
Liberal critic MP Kevin Lamoureux told the Star because there are two young children involved Kenney “needs to be aware of the file and be comfortable that the family’s (case) has been given due consideration,” before they are deported.
“This should not be something that takes weeks. This should be something that takes days, if not hours for (Kenney’s) office to review,” said Lamoureux on Wednesday
The family has made several attempts to obtain refugee status. They were granted a short-term deferral of their original deportation date but that extension has run out. They are awaiting the outcome of an attempt to stay on “humanitarian and compassionate grounds.”
Londono, her husband and two boys spent the first part of Canada Day enjoying a meal with friends and preparing to say their goodbyes. The bulk of their possessions have been packed and stored with a moving company to be shipped to Colombia.
They also received a call from New Democrat leader Jack Layton’s office to let them know a request to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews office to intervene in the deportation pending the outcome of their latest application was denied.
Layton’s office had also contacted Kenney’s office asking for a stay of deportation but were informed the Minister's office would not be stepping in, said a spokesperson for Layton.
Sebastian’s friends have mounted a social media campaign to keep their classmate in Canada by using the hashtag #savesebastian on Twitter. Messages about the teen and his family quickly spread across Canada.
Their story was also posted on microblogging site tumblr, a Facebook page called Save Sebastian and used to create an online family petition to send to Kenney.
By 5 p.m. on Friday the petition had almost 2,500 signatures. Friends and supporters have also created videos on YouTube, a classmate sharing her support and a photo montage.
Sebastian, 13, just graduated from Grade 8 at Sts. Martha and Mary Catholic School where he is a catcher on his school’s baseball team and competes in track and field.
In Canada his parents work as drivers for a company that provides assessments for medical insurance claims, he for a trucking company. They chose the location of their Mississauga apartment to give him a chance to attend the well regarded Catholic school.
The family entered the United States on a tourist visa in 1999 and crossed the border illegally into Canada to seek asylum in 2008.
Full Article
Source: Toronto Star
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