Deportation pending for family living in B.C. 13 years after assault prompted flee from Mexico
Dozens gathered outside a Metro Vancouver school Monday night protesting what they call flaws in Canada's immigration system.
The rally outside an elementary school in New Westminster was in support of a family facing deportation to Mexico 13 years after they fled the country.
The couple made a refugee claim when they first arrived in Canada, but that claim was denied.
They didn't have a lawyer and they didn't speak English very well so, they said, they didn't know how to appeal the decision.
Since then, Alberto Mendez and his wife, Adriana Rosales, have lived in B.C. as undocumented migrants. They now have a daughter.
Last summer, the couple connected with a lawyer and filed an immigration application seeking to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds, but in November, after dropping her daughter off at Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School, Rosales was arrested.
Her arrest by Canada Border Service Agency officers sparked outrage in the community. An organizer of the rally called it "shocking and terrifying," and said the arrest made people afraid to go to school.
The New Westminster Sanctuary Schools policy means all kids, no matter their immigration status, can attend.
Hundreds of people from the school community have written letters to the federal immigration minister asking him to approve the family's application before they are deported on July 8.
A volunteer with Sanctuary Health, an advocacy group supporting migrants, said the couple left Mexico after Mendez was assaulted.
The group said the assault happened after Mendez refused to join a criminal organization.
It says the couple was scared for their lives, and hoped for a better, safer life in Canada.
Sanctuary Health said many migrants in Canada who are in that situation want to do the proper paperwork and live here legally, but the system is set up to fail them.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton dead following prison attack
Convicted B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on women he lured from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to his rural pig farm, has died.
2 children among 5 people hospitalized after head-on crash on Hwy. 417 in Ottawa's west end
Two young children and three adults were seriously injured in a major collision on Highway 417 between Palladium Drive and Carp Road in Ottawa's west end Friday afternoon.
DND moving 1,000 employees out of Ottawa office building due to safety concerns
The Department of National Defence is moving approximately 1,000 employees out of an office building in Ottawa's Lowertown neighbourhood, citing safety concerns for its employees.
Baby dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to woman who was in police custody
A newborn is dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to a woman in police custody.
Jennifer Lopez cancels summer tour: 'I am completely heartsick and devastated'
Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
Fast food chain value deals ramp up in the United States: What does it mean for Canada?
After years of price increases and a decline in customers, fast food chains in the United States are competing with each other and offering value deals in hopes of bringing more foot traffic into their establishments.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
Marian Robinson, mother of Michelle Obama, dies at 86
Marian Shields Robinson, the mother of Michelle Obama who moved with the first family to the White House when son-in-law Barack Obama was elected president, has died. She was 86.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.