Days before deportation, Ottawa pauses removal of refugee's son, husband
CBC
A federal minister has stepped in to temporarily stop the deportation of a Montreal father and son, a last-minute decision the family's lawyer says underscores growing concerns that Canadian authorities are increasingly and abruptly separating the families of recognized refugees.
The intervention came Saturday, just days before the father, Ravi Chauhan, and son were scheduled to be removed from Canada Monday evening. Their lawyer says the one-month deferral will give officials time to review the situation and consider longer-term options to allow the family to remain together. CBC News reported Chauhan and his family's story Friday.
Immigration lawyer Stewart Istvanffy welcomed the decision, crediting Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree for stepping in, but said the case raises concerns about how such removals are being pursued in the first place.
"I'm very pleased that the Minister of Public Safety has intervened to keep this family together and that they recognize that some kind of a serious mistake has been made," Istvanffy said Sunday.
"But I'm really dismayed at the immigration bureaucracy choosing to violate our Charter and fundamental rights and I want there to be some kind of a political intervention to make sure that I don't have to be doing the same type of thing next month."
A spokesperson for the minister declined to comment in response to a request from CBC News on Sunday.
Advocates say the case is not isolated. Several immigration lawyers and community groups told CBC News they have in recent weeks seen an increase in deportation orders involving the spouses and children of protected persons — a shift they say risks undermining Canada’s commitments to family reunification.
Maryse Poisson of the Montreal Welcome Collective said she has seen two similar cases in the past week.
"We're getting reactions from lawyers all over Canada who are saying, 'It goes against the advice every legal counsel has been giving families for years,'" Poisson said. "To our knowledge, this is unprecedented."
Until recently, families of protected persons were allowed to stay in Canada while awaiting decisions on their permanent residency applications, according to the advocates CBC News spoke with.
"It's a sharp break with previous practices," Istvanffy said.
Refugees are not allowed to return to their home country while awaiting permanent residency, and Chauhan and his son would be unlikely to obtain visas to return to Canada if deported. Permanent residency delays in Quebec are about 10 years, according to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) processing times website.
On Thursday, in response to Istvanffy's request to defer Chauhan and his son's removal, a Canada Border Services (CBSA) agent wrote that "invoking the best interests of the children does not represent sufficient grounds on its own to justify deferring a removal."
The agent said Istvanffy had not provided enough evidence to show how Chauhan's son would suffer from being separated from his mother for at least six years and that the family could stay in touch "by telephone or through social media, if they so desire," or could travel to a third country for a visit "in an effort to maintain and nurture their relationship."
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