Emergency Support Rally
Tuesday, November 26th at noon
Migrant Detention Centre – Laval (300 Montée Saint-François, Laval, QC H7C 2S3)
A family of five* faces deportation to Colombia on Friday, November 29th. The family is at risk of violence and even assassination in Colombia at the hands of criminal armed groups because of the mother’s role as a social leader. One hundred and eighty-one social leaders were assassinated in Colombia in 2023.(1)
The family was forced to leave Colombia in 2018 after threats to their lives. In Canada, a series of false immigration consultants and dishonest lawyers led to the refusal of the family’s refugee application, humanitarian application, and pre-removal risk assessment. They were finally ordered to leave Canada in 2023, but remained as undocumented migrants.
The family was violently arrested by the CBSA at their home early Thursday morning. The two parents are currently detained at the Laval Migrant Detention Centre, while the two children, aged 9 and 15, are at home with their grandmother, aged 68.
New documents proving the risk they face are now available to the family. As of yesterday, they have a lawyer but with five days left before the deportation not enough time to prepare a new file.
Montreal community members and organisations are rallying to call on Immigration Minister Marc Miller to issue a temporary resident permit. This will allow the family time to submit the new evidence.
