*Update
Stop the Deportation
Can you help us keep this family together? Jose and Ivania Figueroa came to Canada as refugees from El Salvador in 1997, and have since raised a family here.
However, Jose has had to fight an unjust deportation order for the past four years, and was forced to seek sanctuary in a local church so as not to be separated from his family.
Many members of the community, including elected officials, have rallied in his support, and he now awaits a judicial review of his case, scheduled for May 26.
Please help us raise the necessary funds to support the family through this difficult time. Let's raise enough money to cover their legal costs and give them hope that they will not be torn apart!
Background
Press Release: The struggle to overturn the decision to split apart a "model immigrant family" heads to Federal Court
After a four month
delay caused by a "clerical mistake" on the part of Immigration Canada, the Federal Court of Canada has rescheduled the judicial review of the
case of Jose Figueroa vs. the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship
that originally was to take place on January 15, 2014.
The Federal Court has determined that the hearing will take place on May 26, 2014, at 11:00 a.m.
In
her decision of March 27th, 2013, which declared Mr Figueroa
inadmissable to Canada (after living here for almost 17 years), MD Karine
Roy-Tremblay stated: “...in this case the family separation will be
directly linked to the personal choices that were made by Mr. Figueroa
in his past.”
Mr. Figueroa was member of a university student
union that supported the opposition Farabundo Marti National Liberation
Front (FMLN) -- the current elected government of El Salvador. The FMLN
opposed a murderous right wing dictatorship which was notorious for the
use of death squads and torture to silence any opposition, leading to
almost 80,000 deaths. The decision to deport Mr. Figueroa has been
widely criticized, and despite strong community support,
Mr. Figueroa was forced to claim sanctuary at Walnut Grove
Lutheran Church in October 2013, where he has remained for more than five months now. In a remarkable turn of events, MD Karine Roy-Tremblay also made
another decision in December 2013 in the case of a man from
Pakistan, in which she copied and pasted the exact reasons she gave for
the deportation of Mr. Figueroa.
The Federal Court has also set a
date of July 2, 2014, at 9:30 a.m., to hear another legal matter
introduced by Mr. Figueroa. The Federal Court will be dealing with a
Mandamus proceeding filed by Mr. Figueroa against the Minister of Public
Safety concerning the refusal of the Minister to grant a certificate to
Mr. Figueroa stating that he is not a "listed entity." A "listed
entity" is a list of persons and organizations thought by the Canadian
Government to be "terrorist" in nature. Mr. Figueroa filed the
application for the Certificate on June last year. According to
section 83.07 (2) of the Code of Canada, the Minister has the legal
responsibility to give a response to the application within 15 days
of receiving the application. The deadline for issuing the certificate
was June 18 2013 and because the Minister has not complied with the law
Mr Figueroa was forced to file a Mandamus before the Federal Court.
The long struggle to overturn this unjust
deportation order has caused incredible emotional and financial stress
on the Figueroa family, who were described by the Langley Times community newspaper as a
"model immigrant family". Swimming in legal debt, unable to work due to
Mr Figueroa's exile, and living with the daily fear of permanent
separation, they are now in dire need of your support.
For more
information visit http://wearejose.org
Contacts
Lawyer: Peter Edelmann, (604) 646-4684 | peter@edelmann.ca
Toronto: Robert Graham, (416) 822-2083
Vancouver/Langley: Jose Figueroa, (604) 881-0676 | jose@wearejose.org
http://wearejose.org |
todossomosjose.drupalgardens.com |
@wearejose#WeAreJose
