URGENT: CBSA TRYING TO DEPORT COLOMBIAN SOCIAL LEADER AT RISK
An undocumented Colombian family of three adults and two children was violently arrested by the CBSA at their home last week. They face deportation on Friday, November 29th to a situation of high risk because of the mother’s role as a social leader.
SUPPORT NEEDED FROM ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS (see details below):
– RALLY at the Detention Centre on Tuesday, November 26th at noon
– CALL/WRITE Marc Miller to stop the deportation
Carolina and Fernando* arrived in Canada from Colombia as refugees in 2018 with their two young children, Santiago and Lincey*, now aged 9 and 15, and Carolina’s 68-year-old mother, Margarita*.
The family was forced to leave Colombia after threats to their lives because of Carolina’s role as a social leader. The threat is ongoing and we fear the family is at risk of violence and even assassination at the hands of criminal armed groups in Colombia if they are deported.
From the time they arrived in Canada, Carolina and Fernando were victims of false immigration consultants and dishonest lawyers, who took large sums of money from them. Their refugee claim, PRRA and application on humanitarian grounds failed to present important risks and hardships the family faced in Colombia. Finally, all applications failed and they were ordered to leave Canada in 2023. They did not go, preferring the precarious existence of undocumented migrants to the risk they face in Colombia.
New documents proving the risk are now available to the family, but the deportation is supposed to take place in five days. They have no lawyer. They need more time to be able to present these documents with the help of a decent lawyer.
The stress of the last years – from having to flee Colombia to the immigration struggle in Canada – has contributed to significant health problems for Lincey, the 15 year old girl, and Margarita, the grandmother. These were aggravated last Thursday morning when CBSA arrested Carolina and Fernando on their doorstep and then continued to pound on the door, threatening to break it down, as the terrified children hid in an upstairs bedroom. They both need security and stability and medical support they can receive in Canada.
Carolina and Fernando are imprisoned at the migrant prison in Laval. The children are in the care of their grandmother. All five face deportation on Friday.
What you can do:
INDIVIDUALS:
– Join the demonstration in support of the family on Tuesday at 12 noon, in front of the Migrant Prison in Laval (300 Montée Saint-François, Laval, QC H7C 2S3). For car-sharing options: 11am at Henri-Bourassa Metro parking lot (just east of the metro station). Bring your own signs of support.
– Write / Call Immigration Minister Marc Miller, with Soraya Martinez Ferrada (MP for the family’s neighbourhood) in copy. In your letter or call, explain that the family is at risk because of their role as social leaders in Colombia. Ask Miller to use his discretionary power to issue a temporary resident permit so that there is time for this risk and new documents about the risk to be presented. Email to: Marc.Miller@parl.gc.ca & marc.miller.a1@parl.gc.ca & marc.miller.c1a@parl.gc.ca & Soraya.MartinezFerrada@parl.gc.ca. Tel : 514-496-4885.
ORGANISATIONS:
– Write a letter to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, with Soraya Martinez Ferrada (MP for the family’s neighbourhood) in copy. Write us beforehand so we can give you more details (solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com) and send us a copy of your letter after you have sent it to Miller.
– Help mobilize your members for the demonstration in support of the family on Tuesday at 12 noon, in front of the Migrant Prison in Laval (300 Montée Saint-François, Laval, QC H7C 2S3). For car-sharing options: 11am at Henri-Bourassa Metro parking lot (just east of the metro station). Consider saying a word of support.
We must continue to organize, mobilize and fight collectively against the detention and deportation of migrants, which shatters lives, families and communities.
*Names have been modified to protect the family’s safety.