South Asian man saved from deportation, released from Laval detention centre

A South Asian man in Montreal that was saved from deportation hours before it was scheduled to take place on August 31 was released from a migrant detention centre in Laval on Wednesday.

Mr. S is what the man is referred to as due to safety reasons. He was detained for two and a half months and threatened to be sent back to his country of origin.

Last week, two protests were held outside federal immigration minister, Marc Miller’s office, to put pressure on the government to keep Mr. S with his wife in Montreal as they await process of their spousal sponsorship.

BACKGROUND: ‘Breaking my family’: Rally to stop the imminent deportation of a South Asian man

Just six hours before he was due to be deported, Mr. S. found out Minister Miller had issued a temporary residence permit (TRP), which would allow him to remain in Canada until his spousal sponsorship.

“This is an extremely happy day for both of us. I have suffered a great deal in my life but what the CBSA put me through in the last months has been the worst. Now we will be united and have a chance to live our lives in peace,” said Fatima, who put in a spousal sponsorship for her husband over a year ago.

“Although the violence and trauma inflicted on the couple by Canada’s immigration system may never be fully erased, we hope that the community support and solidarity they received over the last weeks will help them heal. We encourage others facing exclusion and imprisonment as migrants to join the fight for migrant justice,” Solidarity Across Borders said in a statement released after the deportation was stopped on Aug. 31.

Another protest will take place in front of Miller’s office on Sept. 17, as Solidarity Across Borders will join other members of the Migrant Rights Network across Canada and in Europe to demand Status for All, and specifically implementation of a regularization programme for undocumented migrants.