Deepan Budlakoti, a 23-year-old first-time federal offender, is being deported to his parents’ homeland under a rarely-used law in the Citizenship Act that says if your parents are foreign diplomats or under their employ at the time of birth, you are not considered a Canadian citizen.
His parents, Indian farmers, arrived in Canada in 1985 as household staff for India’s High Commissioner. They cleaned his toilets, walked his children to and from the school bus stop, and served dinner guests at night.
Documents show that the servants worked for the top diplomat until Dec. 21, 1989, some two months after their son’s birth. They believed that because their son was born in Canada he had automatic citizenship. So when they won citizenship themselves in 1997, they didn’t bother making an application for him. In fact, his father wrote on his application back then that his son was already a Canadian citizen, according to government files.
Budlakoti has a birth certificate and a Canadian passport, which was issued by mistake, but he also has a criminal record and the federal government wants him removed.
Budlakoti, a convicted drug dealer, is scheduled to be released from federal prison on Wednesday after serving a two-year sentence. He will then be escorted to a Toronto jail to await deportation.
“It’s going to be a double shock. It’ll be an environment shock from getting out of prison and a culture shock of being in a foreign country,” the imprisoned Budlakoti told the Citizen.
“I was born in Canada. It’s my country. I don’t know anyone in India and like I said, I don’t even speak the language,” Budlakoti said.
His immigration lawyer, Peter Stieda, gets upset when he talks about his client’s fate.
“The legislation needs to be changed for this precise situation, and the present government certainly won’t change it,” the Ottawa lawyer said.
“The rights of the individual are not just for people who look good and come in Hollywood packaging. Rights are supposed to be for all of us, including disenfranchised youth who go off the rails. I’m speaking from the heart when I say this is a terrible situation.
“My guy is about to be given the boot from Canada. All of the ships have left port. I have exhausted all legal avenues and there’s nothing I can do to stop his deportation,” Stieda said.
Budlakoti, who presents himself as a reformed man, has acknowledged he has been far from a model citizen.
Budlakoti got into a pile of trouble growing up in the west end.
He first ran away from home at 12 because he didn’t want to follow house rules. He slept in city parks at night and during the day, broke into Ottawa homes where he showered and cooked himself lunch. He also stole whatever he could lug out the back door.
He straightened out, completed high school, then launched a small renovation company. But he ended up in trouble again in 2009, and following an Ottawa police investigation, pleaded guilty to illegal transfer of a firearm and cocaine trafficking.
His fate has rattled his parents to the point where they find it hard to sleep at night. His father says his son made more mistakes than most. Still, he doesn’t think his son should be deported to a country he knows nothing about.
Budlakoti is resigned to the fact that his life outside prison will begin in India.
His main goal right now is to get all the shots he needs before touching down in India. “I asked if I could get a malaria shot but they told me they don’t provide that service,” Budlakoti said.
Canada Border Services Agency did not respond to a request for comment on that point.
His lawyer, who has visited India, said: “I’ve toured India and seen 12-year-olds living on the street with nothing. If the state doesn’t provide for children, I doubt India will provide a thing for my client, an adult. This whole situation is upsetting and there’s nothing I can do.”
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: GARY DIMMOCK
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