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Family fears for their lives as deportation from Canada imminent – CBC.ca

Published

2 years ago

July 2, 2022

The basement condo in central Edmonton, where Luis Ubando Nolasco and his family carefully rebuilt a home and a life, is being emptied out.

The father, his wife Cinthya Carrasco Campos and their two young daughters are set to be deported to Mexico Monday. The family, who fled to Canada in 2018 in the wake of a family member’s homicide and ongoing threats, have been denied refugee status by the federal government.

In preparation for deportation, the family has sold off much of their furniture. In the living room, the TV is on the floor and the family has cushions to sit on. The wall above where there used to be a couch is still crowded with children’s artwork and drawings.

The two girls are finishing up the year at their elementary school. As they enjoy end-of-year parties and field trips, their parents are desperately trying to delay or stop the return to Mexico.

Ubando Nolasco has even tried to convince authorities to send him back first, alone.

“If they can just stay, I’ll go back. I can go,” he told CBC News last week. “Make an example of myself. If they want to see somebody’s been murdered, I can go back and get murdered.”

Little furniture is left in the family’s Edmonton apartment as they prepare for deportation. (Peter Evans/CBC)

Speaking through tears, the father shared his fears about what will happen to his children if they return to Mexico and are discovered by the people who, he says, have already killed his brother and are still actively looking for him.

“They will take my daughters, they will dismember them, and they will show me how they did that to my daughters,” Ubando Nolasco said. “That’s something that I don’t want to happen.”

On June 5, 2018, Ubando Nolasco’s brother, José Ubando Alvarez, told him someone was calling him and demanding money, according to federal court documents filed as part of the family’s case. Ubando Nolasco thought perhaps his brother was being targeted because of social media pictures he’d posted that gave the impression he was wealthy.

Ubando Nolasco said his brother laughed the threats off and sent mocking replies to their unknown source.

Two days later, on June 7, 2018, Ubando Alvarez was killed. He was shot multiple times, and police opened a homicide investigation that remains unsolved.

According to the documents, Ubando Nolasco provided evidence that, at his brother’s funeral, someone came up behind him, pressed something into his back and told him he would die unless he gave them money. He couldn’t see who it was, but soon began receiving threatening texts and calls demanding money.

Whoever was sending the threats to Ubando Nolasco started including details about Carrasco Campos and his two daughters as well. They knew where the girls were going to school.

The family went into hiding in Mexico before fleeing to Canada on a direct flight on July 11, 2018. Upon arrival in Vancouver, they obtained refugee protection.

There have been no arrests in connection to the brother’s death. Relatives and friends who have contacted the police to try to get more information have received pushback from police.

One relative even started receiving threatening messages, demanding to know the whereabouts of Ubando Nolasco. CBC News has viewed translated versions of those text messages, provided as part of the family’s refugee claim.

Arriving in Edmonton, the family settled into life as best they could under the circumstances.

The girls enrolled in school and, after a six month waiting period, the two parents were granted temporary work permits and got jobs. They’ve had to renew the permits annually but are still working — even with their deportation date just days away.

Denied refugee status

On Sept. 15, 2019, a three-member panel of the federal Refugee Protection Division heard the family’s claim for protection as refugees. According to written reasons for decision, the panel found that, while the threats the family faces are credible, they could take refuge in another part of Mexico.

Referred to as an “internal flight alternative (IFA)”, the panel suggested a region in a safer part of the country where it would be possible for the parents to find work.

The family argued that, in Mexico, student lists for schools are publicly available so it would be possible for a criminal group to track them down regardless of where they are.

The panel, however, found the family’s belief that whoever is making the threats would be able to find them is “speculative,” because the criminals’ identities are unknown, the amount of money they are seeking is unknown and the only motivation seems to be the alleged debt the brother owed the criminals.

The family appealed the decision. But in a February 2020 decision, the Refugee Appeal Division member upheld the panel’s decision.

“The existence of an IFA is fatal to any refugee claim. If a claimant can find safety from persecution by fleeing within their country, then they are not entitled to Canada’s surrogate protection,” wrote the member who rejected their appeal.

The family of four fled Mexico after a relative was shot to death and they started getting threatening demands for money. (Submitted by Luis Ubando Nolasco)

During their appeal, the family argued that it was “objectively impossible” for them to know the capacity or motivation of the people making the threats without knowing their identity.

In the written decision, the member who heard the appeal agreed, but found that, under Canadian law, the burden is on the appellants to show why the IFA isn’t a viable refuge for them, and that test hadn’t been met in this case.

The family sought a judicial review of the appeal decision, but that request was denied last September. Their counsel says they were notified in February.

As a last ditch effort, the family filed for humanitarian and compassionate leave to stay in Canada in April, but must return to Mexico in the meantime. The currently listed processing times are upward of a year.

The family has exhausted nearly all of their options.

With the help of a neighbour, who learned what was happening and stepped in, they’ve sought support from refugee support groups and met with staff from Edmonton Centre MP and federal Minister of Tourism Randy Boissaunault.

“We are actively looking into their cases and are in contact with colleagues at IRCC,” Boissonnault said in a statement via email.

Public campaign

Migrante Canada and its Alberta chapter have gotten involved in advocacy for the family.

“A public campaign is the only thing that we know of that can turn this around. Letting people know the stories out there, public pressure onto our political leaders — that is what we’re hoping would turn this around,” said Clarizze Truscott, vice-chairperson of Migrante Canada, who also sits on the Migrante Alberta executive.

Migrante Alberta is also in the midst of a campaign to stop another family from being forced to leave Canada: an undocumented single mother, who has a six-year-old Canadian daughter with health issues, is being deported to the Philippines.

They don’t have hard numbers, but Truscott said the organization is hearing from an increasing number of people who have suddenly been given deportation dates for June and July.

She said it’s baffling that the federal government is removing people while at the same time expanding the temporary foreign worker program.

“We’re removing them while opening the doors for a new set of workers with the same kind of temporary permits, essentially,” she said. “Why not keep the ones that are here? They have proven they belong to Canadian society.”

Ubando Nolasco and Cinthya Carrasco Campos from their Edmonton home. Little decoration is left as the family prepares for deportation, but children’s art and drawings still adorn the wall. (Submitted by Luis Ubando Nolasco)

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada cannot comment on specific cases without written consent due to privacy legislation, said department spokesperson Rémi Larivière.

All eligible asylum claims receive an independent and fair assessment of their claim through the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, he said. For those not normally eligible to become permanent residents through regular programs, or who have exhausted all other options, an application on humanitarian and compassionate grounds is available.

“Every individual facing removal is entitled to due process, but once all avenues to appeal are exhausted, they are removed from Canada in accordance with Canadian law,” Larivière said.

Minister Sean Fraser has been mandated to build on existing pilot programs to explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers and the IRCC looks forward to continuing this work, he said.

Seeking peace

If Ubando Nolasco’s family ends up back in Mexico, they will likely have to hide and try to seek refugee status in another country, hoping to get what they thought they’d found in Canada — a normal life where their daughters will be safe.

“We came here to give — to be safe — but we’re not here to take,” he said.

He recognizes there are many people seeking to remain in Canada, and that the government is in a difficult position.

He doesn’t want special treatment, but he wants people to understand the danger his family is facing. That’s why he and his wife decided to share their identities, despite being fearful of what going public — and then returning to Mexico — could mean.

“This is to give my daughters an opportunity to live in peace,” he said. “They are worth every single second of effort that I can make.”

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Mitchell throws two TD passes as Ticats earn important 37-21 home win over Redblacks

Published

37 seconds ago

September 14, 2024

Anne Joseph

HAMILTON – It remains faint but Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats still have a playoff pulse.

Mitchell threw two touchdown passes as Hamilton defeated the Ottawa Redblacks 37-21 in the CFL’s annual Hall of Fame game Saturday afternoon. The Ticats (4-9) earned a second straight win to move to within six points of the third-place Toronto Argonauts (7-6) in the East Division.

Hamilton visits Toronto on Friday night.

“Obviously they’re (wins) huge now,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t do ourselves any favours by getting into this position and not being able to really control our own destiny.

“But right now, we need certain people to win at certain times. Our job is to go out there and try to win the next five, then the next three after that.”

Mitchell finished 20-of-27 passing for 299 yards and an interception. He entered weekend action leading the CFL in passing yards (3,383) and TD strikes (21).

Greg Bell’s 15-yard TD run at 11:30 of the fourth and two-point convert put Hamilton up 36-21 after backup Jeremiah Masoli led Ottawa on two scoring drives. Following a 13-yard TD strike to Andre Miller at 2:53, Masoli found Dominique Rhymes on a 10-yard touchdown pass at 7:43 before Khalan Laborn’s two-point convert cut Hamilton’s lead to 29-21.

“When you’re scoring from (15) yards out on a run play, that makes offence easy,” Mitchell said. “It’s one of those things when you get down there as a quarterback, it takes you sometimes five, eight, 10 plays and now it’s ‘OK, now we have to create some stuff and find something.’

“When you hand the ball off and you’re scoring from (15) yards, it makes the offence really easy.”

Ottawa (8-4-1) would have clinched a playoff spot with a victory.

Ottawa committed six turnovers (three interceptions, two fumbles, once on downs) before an announced Tim Hortons Field gathering of 22,119. Lawrence Woods III also returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown at 11:51 of the first quarter that put Hamilton ahead 10-3.

“You’ve got to bring your best every single week and this wasn’t our best, all of us, from coaches to the players,” said Ottawa head coach Bob Dyce. “If you don’t play great for four quarters, I don’t care who you’re playing you’re not going to have a successful day.

“We should’ve made the tackle (on Woods), we had him wrapped up it’s that simple. Even though we didn’t make the play on that, there should’ve been extra bodies there to clean it up when he did break the tackle.”

Hamilton also tied the season series with Ottawa 1-1. The teams meet again at TD Place on Oct. 25.

“If we didn’t turn it over today I would’ve said we played really well offensively and that to me is what the biggest difference is,” said Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. “Even the turnovers today (interception, fumble), at least they were in their end and we weren’t giving them a short field.

“The biggest play of the game was Woodsie’s return. It got us jump-started, gave us the lead and we were kind of off after that.”

Ottawa starter Dru Brown was 17-of-27 passing for 164 yards and an interception. Masoli entered late in the third and finished 13-of-19 passing for 183 yards with two TDs and two interceptions, but Dyce said Brown will start next weekend against Montreal (10-2-1), which earned a 19-19 tie Saturday night with Calgary (4-8-1).

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame’s ’24 class of S.J. Green, Chad Owens, Weston Dressler, Vince Goldsmith and Vince Coleman, along with builders Ray Jauch and Ed Laverty (posthumously), was honoured at halftime. All were enshrined Friday night.

Steven Dunbar Jr. and Ante Litre had Hamilton’s other touchdowns. Marc Liegghio kicked two field goals, three converts and two singles.

Ottawa’s Lewis Ward booted two field goals and a convert.

Mitchell culminated a five-play, 96-yard march with a 20-yard TD pass to Litre at 13:34 of the third. It followed Jonathan Moxey’s interception.

Liegghio’s single at 7:05 of the third put Hamilton up 22-6.

Mitchell’s 54-yard TD strike to Dunbar at 14:18 of the second staked Hamilton to its 21-6 halftime lead. The advantage was well-deserved as the Ticats had more first downs (12-six), net offensive yards (260-144) and scored on both offence and special teams.

Mitchell was 14-of-20 passing for 210 yards and a TD, but his interception cost Hamilton at least a field-goal attempt. Dunbar had five receptions for 113 yards and the touchdown.

Brown completed 13-of-21 passes for 127 yards.

Liegghio’s missed 47-yard attempt went for the single at 12:45 to put Hamilton ahead 14-6. It followed a Kiondre Smith catch that was ruled incomplete and at the very least cost the Ticats a first down that would’ve kept the drive alive.

Ward’s 30-yard kick at 9:15 had pulled Ottawa to within 13-6.

Liegghio’s 19-yard field goal at 5:13 pushed Hamilton’s lead to 13-3. It followed the defence stopping Ottawa’s Dustin Crum on third-and-one, giving the Ticats possession at the Redblacks 40.

Liegghio’s 47-yard field goal opened the scoring at 2:42 before Ward tied in with a 24-yard boot at 8:44.

UP NEXT

Redblacks: Host the Montreal Alouettes (10-2-1) next Saturday, Sept. 21.

Tiger-Cats: Visit the Toronto Argonauts (7-6) on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

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Toronto FC downs Austin FC to pick up three much-needed points in MLS playoff push

Published

20 mins ago

September 14, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Needing three points to keep their playoff push alive, Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio and Deandre Kerr stepped up with first-half goals against Austin FC on Saturday with goalkeeper Sean Johnson doing his bit at the other end.

A 76th-minute goal by Austin’s Owen Wolff made for a nervy ending but TFC hung on for a 2-1 win.

While Toronto (11-15-3) remains on the Major League Soccer playoff bubble in eighth place in the Eastern Conference (the eighth- and ninth-place teams in each conference square off in a wild-card playoff with the winner facing the top seed in the conference), other results went their way.

Seventh-place Charlotte, 10th-place Atlanta and 11th-place Philadelphia all lost while ninth-place D.C. United tied.

Toronto midfielder Alonso Coello called it “a game we had to win.”

“It’s a big win … To see that fight tonight was important,” added coach John Herdman.

Austin (9-12-7) came into the game in 11th place in the West, two points below ninth-place Minnesota. The Texas side has won just one of its last six league games (1-4-1).

Austin outshot Toronto 7-6 (6-2 edge in shots on target) in the first half but found itself trailing 2-0 at the break as Toronto took advantage of its chances and the visitors didn’t in their first-ever visit to BMO Field, before an announced crowd of 25,538.

Toronto had a dream start, catching Austin on the counterattack in the seventh minute. A sliding Austin player dispossessed an onrushing Kerr, who had been set free by a long ball from Coello, but the ball bounced to Osorio, who beat goalkeeper Brad Stuver with a rising shot.

It was the Toronto captain’s second goal of the season in league play and his 65th for TFC in all competitions. Only Sebastian Giovinco (83) and Jozy Altidore (79) scored more in Toronto colours.

TFC went ahead on another counterattack in the 30th minute after an Austin giveaway. Osorio found Richie Laryea outpacing his marker and the wingback unselfishly sent a perfect low cross across goal for Kerr to knock home for his third of the season.

Wolff, the son of Austin head coach Josh Wolff, made it interesting with his late strike. The 19-year-old U.S. youth international, controlling a long ball, beat defender Raoul Petretta and then waited out Johnson before slotting it home for his first of the season.

Toronto survived a nervy six minutes of stoppage time as Austin pressed for the equalizer. Austin outshot Toronto 14-9 (8-3 in shots on target) and had 52.5 per cent possession.

The win evened Toronto’s home record at 7-7-0, while Austin slipped to 3-8-3 on the road.

It was a costly evening for Austin with defender Brendan Hines-Ike, midfielder Jhojan Valencia and star attacker Sebastian Driussi allpicking up cautions to miss Wednesday’s game with Los Angeles FC due to yellow-card accumulation.

Toronto defender Shane O’Neill will miss Wednesday’s game against visiting Columbus for the same reason. Toronto could be short mid-week, too. The hope is veteran centre back Kevin Long, who missed Saturday’s game after tweaking his hamstring in training, will be good to go.

Toronto has five games remaining, including three more at home as it looks to return to the post-season for the first time since 2020 when it lost to Nashville after extra time at the first hurdle.

It is a challenging road.

TFC hosts Columbus, the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami while playing away at the Colorado Rapids and Chicago Fire. All but Chicago are in playoff positions.

The only previous meeting between Toronto and Austin was in May 2023, when Zardes scored a 91st-minute winner to give Austin a 1-0 win over visiting Toronto, which was then mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. That loss prompted a post-game outburst from Italian star Federico Bernardeschi about TFC’s drab play.

Then-coach Bob Bradley benched Bernardeschi for the next game.

Current coach John Herdman made four changes to his starting 11 with Bernardeschi and Osorio returning from suspension and Coello and Kerr also slotting in. Coello, who had missed the last eight league games with a hamstring injury, was impressive in his 59-minute return.

Both Toronto and Austin suffered home losses last time out going into the international break. Toronto was beaten 3-1 by D.C. United while Austin lost 1-0 to Vancouver.

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

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CF Montreal finds its groove with 2-1 win over Charlotte

Published

21 mins ago

September 14, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – CF Montreal is back in the win column after securing a 2-1 Major League Soccer win over Charlotte FC on Saturday night at Stade Saputo.

Montreal’s form had suffered of late, with just one win in MLS since July, but Laurent Courtois’ squad showed a level of poise and control over the tempo of the game that had not been seen since the beginning of the season.

“What we’ve changed in the last few weeks or months in terms of our methodology or coaching, is nothing. We did the exact thing, We had the exact same words, and we expressed them the exact same way,” said Courtois. “Today, everything just clicked.”

Caden Clark scored for the first time as a Montreal (7-12-9) player in the 23rd minute, in addition to Bryce Duke’s goal three minutes later that ended up being the winner, while Tim Ream found the back of the net for Charlotte (10-10-8).

Montreal had the first major scoring chance of the match after 15 minutes of play. With a free kick roughly 25 metres away from goal, Gabriele Corbo sent a near-perfect shot smashing off the crossbar.

Montreal would continue to dictate the tempo in the opening phase, finding first blood just seven minutes later.

Following a phenomenal triple-save from Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, the ball fell to Clark who volleyed the ball into the wide-open net, picking up his first goal for the club.

“I think you don’t lose the feeling (of scoring), everything happens for a reason, you just can’t lose yourself in the chaos,” said Clark, who had missed a full season due to injury and was briefly without a club, but was grateful for Courtois’ confidence in him.

“(To have a coach’s confidence) is huge and is something I’ve had both ends of so you just can’t take advantage of that in the wrong way. I’m going to keep my discipline with the game plan and keep my head right.”

With momentum completely on their side, the home side doubled the lead just three minutes later. Montreal continued to build up play on the left flank and found a streaking Raheem Edwards in behind the defence who cut the ball back to Duke, sending the Stade Saputo crowd into a frenzy.

Just after the half-hour mark, Charlotte pulled one back through a set piece — something Montreal has struggled defending all season — as Ream rose above everyone at the back post to score his first with his new club.

The second half began in a similar fashion to the end of the first, with Charlotte pressing high up the pitch and forcing several turnovers in dangerous areas. After surviving the pressure, Montreal began to regain control of the game near the hour mark, enjoying the lion’s share of the possession while Charlotte looked to hit back on the counterattack.

“I think when we conceded that goal we were like ‘here we go again.’ 2-1 is a tough lead before halftime … and at the beginning of the half we kind of shot ourselves in the foot and they pressed a bit more, they moved a bit more forward and that opened some gaps,” said captain Samuel Piette.

“I was happy with that, it shows character. At the end of the day, we just wanted the three points and that’s what we got.”

As the game progressed, Charlotte pushed harder to find an equalizer but to no avail. With only one shot on target conceded, the second-worst defence in the league put up an impressive front and confidently rebuffed every single Charlotte attack.

“I’m a big fan of the back five’s performance in their discipline, competitiveness, and synchronization with balls in behind,” said Courtois.

“We can’t explain sometimes in a game it’s not there, they’re capable and today they showed it. Let’s see tomorrow.”

UP NEXT

Both teams are back in action on Sept. 18 away from home as Montreal will look to avenge a 5-0 rout against the New England Revolution while Charlotte visits Orlando City SC.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

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