Family fears for their lives as deportation from Canada imminent

The basement condo in central Edmonton, where Luis Ubando Nolasco and his family carefully rebuilt a home and a life, is being emptied out.

The father, his wife Cinthya Carrasco Campos and their two young daughters are set to be deported to Mexico Monday. The family, who fled to Canada in 2018 in the wake of a family member's homicide and ongoing threats, have been denied refugee status by the federal government. 

In preparation for deportation, the family has sold off much of their furniture. In the living room, the TV is on the floor and the family has cushions to sit on. The wall above where there used to be a couch is still crowded with children's artwork and drawings.

The two girls are finishing up the year at their elementary school. As they enjoy end-of-year parties and field trips, their parents are desperately trying to delay or stop the return to Mexico.

Ubando Nolasco has even tried to convince authorities to send him back first, alone. 

"If they can just stay, I'll go back. I can go," he told CBC News last week. "Make an example of myself. If they want to see somebody's been murdered, I can go back and get murdered." 

Speaking through tears, the father shared his fears about what will happen to his children if they return to Mexico and are discovered by the people who, he says, have already killed his brother and are still actively looking for him.

"They will take my daughters, they will dismember them, and they will show me how they did that to my daughters," Ubando Nolasco said. "That's something that I don't want to happen." 

On June 5, 2018, Ubando Nolasco's brother, José Ubando Alvarez, told him someone was calling him and demanding money, according to federal court documents filed as part of the family's case. Ubando Nolasco thought perhaps his brother was being targeted because of social media pictures he'd posted that gave the impression he was wealthy. 

Ubando Nolasco said his brother laughed the threats off and sent mocking replies to their unknown source. 

Two days later, on June 7, 2018, Ubando Alvarez was killed. He was shot multiple times, and police opened a homicide investigation that remains unsolved. 

According to the documents, Ubando Nolasco provided evidence that, at his brother's funeral, someone came up behind him, pressed something into his back and told him he would die unless he gave them money. He couldn't see who it was, but soon began receiving threatening texts and calls demanding money. 

Whoever was sending the threats to Ubando Nolasco started including details about Carrasco Campos and his two daughters as well. They knew where the girls were going to school.

The family went into hiding in Mexico before fleeing to Canada on a direct flight on July 11, 2018. Upon arrival in Vancouver, they obtained refugee protection.