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From: Janet Isserlis <Janet_Isserlis@Brown.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-ESL:7287] VULNERABLE WOMEN MARKED FOR DEPORTATION
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From the Toronto Star
VULNERABLE WOMEN MARKED FOR DEPORTATION
MICHELE LANDSBERG SUNDAY STAR FEB.17 '02 PAGE A2
Oddly, it's the very process of news-gathering itself that sharpens the
public's widespread distaste for immigration.
It's a news story when O'Neill Grant is, after years of violence and drug
crimes, deported back to Jamaica. It's a news story when two Egyptians
accused of links to terrorism decide to go on a hunger strike. It's an
anger-inducing headline when it is revealed that the Canadian government
requires no visas from visiting Saudi Arabians. But it is not a news story,
and nobody is the wiser, when the knock comes suddenly at the door and ---
in our name --- good people are seized and deported.
Low-paid workers who have never committed a crime do not usually have
access to lawyers and court proceedings. No lawyer, no high-profile
struggle, no news.
The story I'm about to tell, however, is getting some profile because of
another organization often vilified in the news --- OCAP, the Ontario
Coalition Against Poverty. You've read hostile stories about their unruly
demonstrations. You probably haven't read about their volunteers, who have
for years worked quietly to help homeless, poor and desperate people.
OCAP is lobbying to save two women, Brendalyn McDonald, 31, and Irma Maria
Joyles, 30 who are both threatened with deportation. Neither has ever
taken a cent of welfare. Neither has committed any crimes. Both are doing
work that Torontonians need done; both have friends, homes, community.
Brendalyn is a soft-voiced, sweet-faced young woman from Grenada, who
began working as a nanny soon after she came here in 1995 to visit a
cousin. She has worked ever since; she loves children, has happy references
from employers, is a beloved volunteer with the Salvation Army and wants to
study Early Childhood Education.
Not long after she arrived, Brendalyn met and fell in love with her
current common-law partner, a Canadian citizen who works steadily as a
carpenter. They live together devotedly and are raising their four year old
daughter. He is awaiting a divorce so they can officially marry, and is
trying to sponsor Brendalyn.
Although she should qualify as a sponsored immigrant, and although her
appeal to stay on "humanitarian and compassionate grounds" hasn't yet been
settled, the immigration cops came to her door one day to deport her.
Failing to find Brendalyn at home, they seized instead upon Shirley, who
was babysitting the couple's little girl. Shirley had been in Canada 15
years, since her early teens. But her life was wrecked in 10 days flat
---she was taken directly to the detention centre and deported, with only
Brendalyn to pack up the one permitted suitcase to take to her imprisoned
friend.
There was, of course, no news story.
Yes, these women are here "illegally". They did not go through proper
procedures. Vulnerable, frightened and desperate to make their way in the
world, they trusted to luck and luck ran out. Brendalyn and her partner are
now hiding from the police. Many Canadians fortunate enough to have been
born here, citizens who will never sit and talk with Brendalyn or receive
one of her shy, radiant smiles, will think she is getting nothing better
than she deserves.
I think it's more complicated than that. Canada became a magnet for so
many women from the Caribbean precisely because the government brought
thousands of Caribbean women here to mind our children while Canadian women
went out to work. It was one way the government could avoid providing a
top-notch national child care service. We created a large West Indian
community to serve our own purposes, and then shut the door when we no
longer needed to exploit them to do the hard, under-rewarded and necessary
jobs.
It's perfectly true that people should not come here illegally. We have a
right and a duty to enforce our laws. But, considering our own active role
in creating the present problem, and the humanitarian case that can easily
be made for women like Brendalyn and Irma, shouldn't we push our government
to work harder at giving people a fair hearing, or at least make
exceptions in deserving cases?
Irma Joyles is one example. She should, according to Canadian
immigration policy, be given special consideration as a woman fleeing
violence. In her native St. Vincent, she grew up in a family where her
father routinely beat her mother "beyond recognition" (according to Irma's
affidavit) and several times nearly killed her. Local police refused to get
involved. Irma was subjected to abuse that she cannot bring herself to
describe.
At 17, Irma fled to Canada on the urgings of her grandparents, aunts,
uncles and cousins, all of them living here as landed immigrants or
citizens. She applied for refugee status and began attending high school.
Then she was summoned to the refugee office and ordered out of the
country. Dutifully, Irma left --- but the situation at home in St. Vincent
was so bleak that she quietly returned. She trained as a hairdresser, gave
birth to her adorable child, Meonny, now 3, and has never been in trouble
with the law or asked for welfare.
But Irma made a mistake. Determined to legalize her status in Canada, she
turned to an immigration consultant ---a fraud artist who fleeced her out
of her life savings ($7000) while pretending to file appeals on her behalf.
It was not until enforcement officers caught up with Irma and imprisoned
her for two weeks that she learned how she had been robbed. Irma, too, is
now in hiding.
Why are we hunting and hounding these harmless young women, casting their
lives into chaos and hopelessness, when they are here, happy and working?
How often do we read of high-profile terrorists or criminals who are in
this country on minister's permits, or manage to stall their deportations
for years? We don't read about the Irmas and the Brendalyns. But
---especially if you're a working woman who has relied on hired help to
sustain your family and career --- isn't it time for a little payback?
If you, like me, think this wealthy country can afford a little ordinary
kindness, please fax your views to the new Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration, the Hon. Denis Coderre (613-990-7255). Tell him you think
these women have earned the right to stay here and make a decent life for
themselves and their children. Cite their full names and immigration
numbers: Irma Marie Joyles, 24875795,and Brendalyn McDonald, 41237318.
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