Montreal, 30 August 2023 — On the eve of the deportation of a man detained in the Laval Immigration Holding Centre, increasing numbers of individuals and community organisations are appealing to new Immigration Minister Marc Miller to step up and rectify the situation.
“We have been alerted to the situation of Mr. S. and his family. It is unacceptable to us that people are broken and families separated in a context in which the very survival of humans is threatened in many places,” wrote Lizo Ginestet pour POPIR, a housing rights organization based in Marc Miller’s riding.
On Monday, an emergency rally outside Minister Miller’s riding office in Montreal called on Minister Miller to let Mr. S. stay in Canada until he gets a response on his spousal sponsorship application, which was filed over a year ago, and to move forward without delay on the long-awaited regularization programme for undocumented migrants. Since then, the Minister has received numerous letters from all quarters asking him to take action to rectify the situation.
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“I am writing to you to ask that you accept Mr. S.’s sponsorship application. He is a member of a persecuted religious minority in the country of his birth. But his application was cruelly rejected. His wife, Fatima, put in a spousal sponsorship application for him over a year ago. Despite the fact that the sponsorship application has not yet been decided, Fatima’s beloved husband has been ordered to leave the country as a refused refugee. He and his wife simply want to live their lives together: why is that too much to ask?” wrote Freda Guttman, an artist and member of Mr. Miller’s riding.
“If he is deported, Mr. S…. will be separated from his wife, …. A survivor of gender violence, with a son with very severe health issues, Ms … is both emotionally and practically dependent on her husband. She has already been deeply affected by his arrest, detention, and looming deportation. Following his arrest, she was diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression and has been forced to take a medical leave of absence from her work …,” wrote Samira Jasmin in a letter to Marc Miller on behalf of Solidarity Across Borders.
“Mr. S should be released asap and his wife’s sponsorship application should be given priority attention before another tragedy happens. By becoming minister, you have chosen… to dedicate your life to making Quebec and Canada a fairer society. It is time to move forward on this and to regularize all undocumented migrants in Canada without further delay,” concluded Ginestet.
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