Toronto: A Jamaican mother was deported on Tuesday, November 2, after the judge in her immigration hearing last week decided that her six-month-old baby would not face irreparable harm with her removal from Canada.
The motion filed with the Federal Court of Canada, on behalf of Lakia Facey, 30, to stay her deportation, was intended to keep the mother of two in Canada until her baby is returned to her. Facey was represented in court by the law firm of Gertler, Etienne.
"Taking away this mother's right of ever arguing to get custody of her child by taking her out of the country is totally not acceptable and the fact that this officer deferred her removal from one day after her court date is not acceptable," says Roy Kellogg, an immigration consultant, who represented Facey at a detention review on October 18. Kellogg says the Humanitarian and Compassionate Immigration Manual Inland Processing IP5 clearly states that "IRPA introduces a statutory obligation to take into account the best interests of a child." He also references a section which states that: "Officers must always be alert and sensitive to the interests of children when examining A25 (1) requests by carefully identifying and examining all factors related to the child's life."
"If this person was a criminal, then fine, get rid of her. But she's not. The Canadian government is being too severe and not sensitive to this situation," Kellogg, a member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, told the Weekly Gleaner last week.
According to Sun Media reports, Halton Children's Aid Society took the baby into custody last March. At the time, the baby was in Burlington, just west of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), at the James Brant Memorial Hospital.
Child welfare workers claimed the baby was in danger because Facey, who was in Canada illegally, did not have a regular home.
"If she does leave," Kellogg said, "she loses any chance of getting custody of her child."
Kellogg's confidence was on edge as he estimated that Facey had a 15 percent chance of being allowed to stay past her deportation date.
"It depends on the judge," he said. "The dads and mums will stand up for her."
The mother, who arrived in Toronto in 2001 and overstayed her visa, was being held at the Rexdale Detention Centre located in the north-western region of the GTA, a short distance away from the Pearson International Airport.
According to the immigration consultant, Facey said the biological father of her six-month-old baby was threatening her and, because she had no legal status, she was unable to file a police report. The mother also has a four-year-old son who is being looked after by relatives.
A family court will decide on the fate of the baby on December 9.
