Montreal Man Faces Deportation
After 32 Years in Canada
via Newswire
At a hearing on January 31, a man who has lived in Montreal since he was
accepted as a refugee from Chile when he was six years old, but is now
facing deportation, will appeal for a stay, or delay, of his
deportation, for the sake of his three Canadian kids, and his ailing
Canadian mother who depends on him as her primary caregiver.
“It
is as if they were sending a Quebecer who had never lived with those
people over in Chile,” Victor Morales, aged 40, stated. “I’ve lived here
my entire life,” he added.
According to Morales’s lawyer Stewart
Istvanffy, the stay of his deportation, which is currently scheduled
for February 8, is being requested on the grounds of family protection,
and for the sake of the best interests of his children. Morales’s
mother’s Montreal-based doctor, Sylvie Vezena, has written a letter
warning that his deportation will negatively impact the health of the elderly woman, who is terminally ill. Monday 9:30 am: Hearing for Montreal man facing deportation after 32 years
in Canada.
WHAT: *Hearing for Victor Morales, who’s lived in Montreal since 1978,
and provides essential care for his ailing Canadian mother and three
kids,
but is now facing deportation*
WHEN: *Monday, January 31, 9:30 AM*
WHERE: *30 Rue McGill
*CONTACT: *Victor Morales
Cell: 514-616-8625
Morales has worked successfully in recent years to overcome trauma and addictions common to adults who as children witnessed domestic abuse in their own families. While he was suffering from untreated Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) and addictions, he was charged with some minor offenses including possession of marijuana, and spent some time in jail. However, since receiving treatment from a PTS clinic, and successfully completing the Alcoholics Anonymous program, he has not touched alcohol or drugs. And he's
been out of jail since 2004.
Yet the minor offenses, for which Morales already served jail time, are now being used as grounds for his deportation.
Morales’s family, including his three children and mother, all of whom are Canadian citizens, will be present at the hearing. Members of the group No One Is Illegal and Solidarity across Borders will also be present.
According to Sarita Ahooja, an organizer with No One Is Illegal-Montreal, “this case exposes the devastating impact of Canada’s deportation policies on entire communities, including immigrants and Canadians alike.”
*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- January 30, 2011
[UPDATE]
*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Judge delays deportation of man who's lived in Montreal 32 years
MONTREAL, February 1*--The federal court issued a decision today to stay, or delay, the deportation of Victor Morales, a father of three Canadian children, and main caregiver for his terminally ill Canadian mother, who has lived in Montreal since 1978.
In Morales's federal court hearing on January 31, Sylvie Brochu, a lawyer for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, had argued that the Montrealer's deportation to Chile should not be delayed, because of what she called the Chilean-born man's "great criminality."
However, judge Yves de Montigny disputed this claim, saying in his ruling that Morales was not "someone who had committed serious criminal infractions."
Judge de Montigny also ruled that the CIC had not sufficiently taking Morales's children's interests into account when they rejected his application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. De Montigny highlighted in particular the "serious" concerns Morales's lawyer raised about "the fact that the [immigration] agent had not sufficiently taken into account the interests of the children of [Morales] and that she had rejected several letters of support without a valid reason just because they came from interested parties."
Morales's lawyer Stewart Istvanffy commented that "Canada is one of the only countries that would deport someone for having committed minor criminal offences despite the fact they have Canadian children"--which he says represents a "clear violation of international law."
Sarita Ahooja, an organizer with No One is Illegal-Montreal and Solidarity Across Borders, remarked that "this case shows the double punishment imposed on non-citizens, who get deported for crimes already purged, with no regard to the fact that the penal system has already made them pay for their acts."
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