Amid allegations that a former immigration consultant bungled their refugee claims, an Argentine family's scheduled deportation today has been deferred.
Housecleaners Juan and Maria Videla and their children, Emmanuel, 20, and Flavia, 11, were pulled over by Toronto police while driving home after work on New Year's Eve. They were arrested and held on immigration warrants, which unknown to them had been outstanding for nearly a year.
They were held for five days and released on a $9,000 bond. Only then, they say, did they learn that key immigration paperwork that deemed them illegal had been sent to the offices of their immigration consultant in December 2003.
The information, which included notice that deportation removal orders would become effective in January 2004, wasn't passed along.
After hearing their story, Maureen Elizondo, the family's new immigration consultant, sought and received last-minute reprieves late last week from an enforcement officer with Canada Border Services Agency.
Today, instead of being driven across the Niagara Falls border to the U.S. - the family's point of entry into Canada four years ago - the Videlas are hoping to return to work and have their children complete their school years.
Students at Western Tech, where Emmanuel is one credit shy of his OAC diploma, launched an email campaign this week in support of the family. So far, 30 classes at the school have sent emails to newly appointed Immigration Minister Joe Volpe, said teacher Vivian Payne.
Elizondo is hoping to convince immigration authorities to change conditions of the family's bail agreement, including a requirement they stay with their surety who lives outside the city, to allow them to move closer to the children's Toronto schools.
"I think we're going to be able to stay a little bit longer," said Emmanuel. "We're now trying to solve the problem of going back to Toronto."
Elizondo, who is handling the family's case for free, said the removal has been deferred and that may allow them to stay here while applications to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds are filed and processed. She declined to give specifics of what information she passed on to immigration officials that led to the decision to delay deportation.
Credit: Toronto Star |
