Deportation delayed for man who has been in Canada since childhood

Canada is deferring the deportation of a 27-year-old man who came to the country as a child and who was rejected for permanent residency, even though the rest of his family was accepted.

"I'm so relieved," said Kemo Montique, who got the news on Tuesday. "I feel like things are pointing in the right direction."

CBC Toronto covered the case last week.

In 2007, Montique moved to the Greater Toronto Area from Jamaica at age 11, when his parents brought him and his two siblings over on a visitor's visa, to join loved-ones already in Canada. That visa expired when Montique was a teenager and unaware of the family's precarious immigration status, he previously told CBC Toronto.

Despite having no ties to Jamaica or relatives there, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) notified him on Aug. 2 that his application for permanent residency under humanitarian and compassionate grounds was rejected. 

Montique was ordered to leave Canada, even though his family had their application to remain in Canada approved under the same grounds.

Daniel Kingwell, Montique's lawyer, told CBC Toronto that IRCC agreed to reopen his application Tuesday. His deportation has been delayed at least a month while it re-examines the application, said Kingwell. 

Canada Border Services Agency also informed Montique that his scheduled end-of-September removal was cancelled, said Kingwell. He and Montique are now going to wait a month to see if the permanent residency application is approved.

"They've done the right thing here," said Kingwell. But he said it was confusing why the application was rejected in the first place. He has requested the IRCC send its reasons for rejecting the application, but he hasn't received them.

CBC Toronto has requested comment from IRCC and is awaiting a response. Last week, the IRCC said it cannot comment on specific cases, but that any decisions to remove an individual from Canada is not done so "lightly."

However, the deferral of the deportation is a "big turning point" in the case, said Kingwell. 

"Better late than never," he said. "The fact they've agreed to reopen it and stop his removal, hopefully he's home-free at this point, but we will see."

While optimistic, Montique said he doesn't feel he's out of the woods yet. 

"I feel a bit overwhelmed," said Montique. The IRCC's decision to re-examine ordering his deportation has made him feel the initial order was arbitrarily made.