New West Record THURSDAY, December 23, 2021
3
City PROTEST
Community rallies after mom detained
Theresa McManus tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
The “terrifying” detention of a non-status mom after she dropped her child off at a sanctuary school in New West has sparked fears among many migrant families. Sanctuary Health reports that Canada Border Services Agency officers handcuffed a migrant mother shortly after she dropped her Canadian-born daughter off at kindergarten on Nov. 30. “She was detained in an alley on her way to her home, but home is a block-and-a-half away from the school,” said Byron Cruz, a member of the Sanctuary Health Collective. “We are very concerned because that means they were following her to the school; they knew which school the kid is going to. It’s terrible. It’s something that we are very concerned about because we don’t feel comfortable now to say, ‘OK, it’s safe to walk to school in New Westminster’ despite the sanctuary policy.” Omar Chu, a member of Sanctuary Health, said the case has raised fears in the community. “It’s terrifying,” he said. “People are wondering if they should be sending their kids to school and what the consequences of that could be. It becomes really difficult. It is putting a lot of families in a really difficult situation right now.” According to Sanctuary Health, the mother was initially handcuffed and detained by Canada Border Services Agency officers. She was later released, at which point her husband was detained. “I know that the family now is out of detention, as a whole.They are in close contact with CBSA regarding removal,” Chu told the Record Dec. 16. “The mother and daughter are both in therapy
Strong message: Community members rallied Saturday at Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
right now dealing with the trauma of what happened.” RALLYING TOGETHER On Dec. 18, about 75 community members rallied outside Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School to call for schools to be declared sanctuary zones to protect families. “The theme definitely was that CBSA should be staying away from schools, should not be contacting schools, should not surveilling schools,” Chu said. “And also that we want all districts across the province to implement similar sanctuary schools policies to what we have in New West.” Chu said the family did not attend the rally, but is grateful for the community’s support. “I think they were heartened to see the community support that is behind them and to see the school put out a message to families,” he said. “The school put out a message to all of the families in the school, and I think that was really nice for them to see, the solidarity of the school.”
Chu said Sanctuary Health has been meeting with different school districts and pushing them to implement a sanctuary schools policy. In May 2017, the New Westminster school district became B.C.’s first district to adopt a sanctuary schools policy, which seeks to ensure that families living in the community can access school without fearing their information will be shared with federal immigration authorities, unless there is a specific case where it may be required to do so by law.To date, it remains the only school district in the province to have adopted a sanctuary schools policy. Maya Russell, a New Westminster school trustee, said families must be safe in bringing their children to school. “The sanctuary schools policy is something we really believe in.We believe that schools are in the education business and not in the border control business,” she told the Record. “We have worked really hard to build trust so that families who may have
precarious immigration status, the children are not living in hiding and they are participating in school like other children in the community.” Russell, who spoke at the rally, said the school
People are wondering if they should be sending their kids to school.
district was “alarmed” that CBSA appeared to be targeting a family based on the children’s attendance at school. “The belief in the community at least is that they appear to have followed the mother from school and appeared to be looking for her at the school,” she said. “So, all outside the school but using the child’s participation in school to track down the parent.”
Russell said the school district has heard from a number of parents who were concerned and upset that a Canadian-born student is at a risk of deportation. She said children should not be made to suffer from the problems in Canada’s immigration system. According to Sanctuary Health members, the family has been living in Canada for more than 10 years and the child was born in Canada.The couple initially made a refugee claim when they came to Canada from Mexico, but they didn’t have legal representation at the hearing; prior to being detained by CBSA, their new lawyer had submitted an application that they family be permitted to stay in Canada permanently on the basis of humanitarian and compassionate grounds. CBSA RESPONDS In a statement to the Record, the Canada Border Services Agency confirmed its officers were in New Westminster on Nov. 30 while carrying out their duties as part of an Immi-
gration and Refugee Protection Act investigation. It stressed that its officers did not enter school property at any time. The Canada Border Services Agency could not provide details on the case because of privacy laws. It explained the Immigration and Refugee Board is responsible for determining if a person is inadmissible to Canada; if a person is deemed inadmissible, a removal order is issued, and it is then up to the CBSA to act on the removal. “The decision to remove someone from Canada is not taken lightly,” said the statement. “Everyone ordered to be removed from Canada is entitled to due process before the law, and all removal orders are subject to various levels of appeal.” According to the CBSA, prior to removal, individuals may seek leave for judicial review, as well as administrative review procedures that assess the potential risk to the person of returning to their country of origin. It said a pre-removal risk assessment is one of the safeguards in place to ensure people in need of protection are not removed. Once individuals have exhausted all legal avenues of appeal and due process, however, they are expected to respect our laws and leave Canada or be removed, said the CBSA statement. “Prior to initiating enforcement action against any individual, the CBSA reviews all relevant factors related to a case,” said the statement. “When it becomes necessary to arrest someone who is evading a removal order, CBSA officers will attempt to arrest at a location where it will not cause a disturbance to the public.”
