- Jul 26, 2010
- 67
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- POS
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- Jun 2010
- Doc's Request.
- Jun 2010
- AOR Received.
- Sep 2010
- File Transfer...
- Aug 2010
- Med's Done....
- Jun 2010
- Interview........
- Waived
- Passport Req..
- Dec 2010
- VISA ISSUED...
- Jan 2011
- LANDED..........
- Feb 2011
Teen left alone in Toronto after mother deported
Published On Mon Sep 20 2010EmailPrint
Rss ArticleNicholas Keung
Immigration Reporter
Save on legal fees. Flat fee $45
US Immigration, DUI, DWLS, Eviction
www.cheaplegalassistance.com
As always, Leonor Mongoy Soto got home from school, did her homework and waited for her mom to get home from work.
“I waited for her, but she never came back,” recalled the 16-year-old girl. Ever since their refugee claim was rejected in 2008, she and her mother, Yolanda Soto Jurando, had been on the move every six months to avoid immigration enforcement.
That evening her mother eventually called from the Rexdale detention centre, instructing her daughter to leave the apartment immediately and move in with a family friend.
Soto, a hotel cleaner from Mexico, had been picked up at dawn at a friend's house near Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. as she waited for a ride to a job site in Brampton.
Ten days later, she was gone, deported back to Mexico and leaving Mongoy on her own.
Since her mother's April 21 arrest, the teenager has been couch surfing and at the mercy of friends, while her mother tries to flee back to Canada. She originally fled from an alleged sexual predator.
Mongoy returned to school this fall but said she cannot do anything outside of school or her friends' homes, fearing she, too, will get caught.
In an interview from Mexico, Soto, 44, said she didn't mention her separated daughter to Canadian authorities because she wanted her to remain in Canada, where it is safer for the girl.
It is unclear how Canada Border Services Agency officials overlooked Soto having a dependant in Canada.
“How did CBSA not realize simply from Yolanda's file that she also had a daughter, who was also refused refugee status and had an order of deportation?” asked Joseph Burchill, Soto's legal counsel in Mexico.
Border services spokesperson Anna Pape said the department routinely asks arrested individuals if they have family in Canada, and its databases and files cross-reference immediate family members.
“The best interests of the child are taken into account when persons are facing removal from Canada and this means keeping families together,” she said.
“When a custodial parent provides CBSA with information concerning their child's whereabouts or indicates he/she wishes that their child be removed, CBSA ensures that this takes place.”
Soto had filed for asylum in 2006, claiming she was sexually harassed by a co-worker, a security guard, who showed up at her house with his police friends in their cruisers. The family moved but the threats continued, she said.
When the refugee claim was rejected in 2008, she and her daughter joined an estimated 200,000 people living in Canada's underground world.
Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees said the Soto case is unusual.
“To me, it's an oversight of the removal officers,” she said. “When unaccompanied children are left behind, the state is responsible for looking after their interest.”
Last year, more than 430 unaccompanied children arrived at Canada's land border and filed refugee claims. While some are referred to local social services or the children's aid societies, others are left on their own, said Dench.
“No mother wants to leave a child behind,” said Dench. “But if a mother believes that is in the best interest of the child, she must have real fear for the safety of the child if the child is returned to Mexico.”
Burchill, an immigration consultant, said his client hopes that Canada can grant the family sanctuary.
“There is no real law on this issue. This is an act of decency on the part of the government, not a legal obligation,” said Burchill, adding that Soto is also considering returning legally to work as a live-in caregiver.
Is Canada the saver of every refugee claim? What is your opinon on leaving her kid! behind?
Published On Mon Sep 20 2010EmailPrint
Rss ArticleNicholas Keung
Immigration Reporter
Save on legal fees. Flat fee $45
US Immigration, DUI, DWLS, Eviction
www.cheaplegalassistance.com
As always, Leonor Mongoy Soto got home from school, did her homework and waited for her mom to get home from work.
“I waited for her, but she never came back,” recalled the 16-year-old girl. Ever since their refugee claim was rejected in 2008, she and her mother, Yolanda Soto Jurando, had been on the move every six months to avoid immigration enforcement.
That evening her mother eventually called from the Rexdale detention centre, instructing her daughter to leave the apartment immediately and move in with a family friend.
Soto, a hotel cleaner from Mexico, had been picked up at dawn at a friend's house near Jane St. and Lawrence Ave. as she waited for a ride to a job site in Brampton.
Ten days later, she was gone, deported back to Mexico and leaving Mongoy on her own.
Since her mother's April 21 arrest, the teenager has been couch surfing and at the mercy of friends, while her mother tries to flee back to Canada. She originally fled from an alleged sexual predator.
Mongoy returned to school this fall but said she cannot do anything outside of school or her friends' homes, fearing she, too, will get caught.
In an interview from Mexico, Soto, 44, said she didn't mention her separated daughter to Canadian authorities because she wanted her to remain in Canada, where it is safer for the girl.
It is unclear how Canada Border Services Agency officials overlooked Soto having a dependant in Canada.
“How did CBSA not realize simply from Yolanda's file that she also had a daughter, who was also refused refugee status and had an order of deportation?” asked Joseph Burchill, Soto's legal counsel in Mexico.
Border services spokesperson Anna Pape said the department routinely asks arrested individuals if they have family in Canada, and its databases and files cross-reference immediate family members.
“The best interests of the child are taken into account when persons are facing removal from Canada and this means keeping families together,” she said.
“When a custodial parent provides CBSA with information concerning their child's whereabouts or indicates he/she wishes that their child be removed, CBSA ensures that this takes place.”
Soto had filed for asylum in 2006, claiming she was sexually harassed by a co-worker, a security guard, who showed up at her house with his police friends in their cruisers. The family moved but the threats continued, she said.
When the refugee claim was rejected in 2008, she and her daughter joined an estimated 200,000 people living in Canada's underground world.
Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees said the Soto case is unusual.
“To me, it's an oversight of the removal officers,” she said. “When unaccompanied children are left behind, the state is responsible for looking after their interest.”
Last year, more than 430 unaccompanied children arrived at Canada's land border and filed refugee claims. While some are referred to local social services or the children's aid societies, others are left on their own, said Dench.
“No mother wants to leave a child behind,” said Dench. “But if a mother believes that is in the best interest of the child, she must have real fear for the safety of the child if the child is returned to Mexico.”
Burchill, an immigration consultant, said his client hopes that Canada can grant the family sanctuary.
“There is no real law on this issue. This is an act of decency on the part of the government, not a legal obligation,” said Burchill, adding that Soto is also considering returning legally to work as a live-in caregiver.
Is Canada the saver of every refugee claim? What is your opinon on leaving her kid! behind?
