Sunday, September 27, 2020

We Did It! Sarah and Her Family Arrive in Canada

 



Just after 6 pm EST on September 26, we celebrated a moment that has been months in the making. Sarah, Jean-Pierre, Jean-Moise, Jean-Jacques, and Eva Maria have arrived safely in Canada. Canada belatedly issued the Temporary Resident Visas late Friday night while the family were in flight to Seattle, finally doing what they should have done months ago (instead of fighting this family by insisting that their two adoptive, legal guardian, dependent kids were not immediate family members!)

 

But because Canada failed to issue the requisite travel letters, the family were not allowed to connect with the Vancouver flight, and had to spend the night stateside. Thankfully, a wonderful member of our care team, Angela Pinchero, was there at the airport and, in a most loving embrace, took the family back to her house. The delayed flight letters arrived this morning, the flight was rebooked for this afternoon, and this time, everything fell into place!

 

We could not have celebrated this moment without your incredible support. Over 19,000 wonderful people signed the petition, and thousands of you emailed and called throughout our campaign. Words cannot express our incredible gratitude for your generous, loving support. As difficult as this journey has been, it has also been a real learning experience for those who discovered that this was not an isolated case. So many other families are forced to deal with the kinds of bureaucratic immigration obstacles that are not only cruel, but also wholly inconsistent with Canada’s own laws, court precedents, treaty commitments, and basic common sense.

 

While the family is happy that the Canadian government finally did the right thing, it concerns them that they – like thousands of others – were forced to go through so many hoops, hurdles, sleepless nights, and unnecessary stress for what was in the end a very simple matter.  They continue scratching their heads, wondering what it was that made the Canadian government fail to see what was plain as day: this is a family, and families should never be separated or forced to consider the impossible choices that were presented to Sarah by her own government. 

 

Going forward, Sarah and her family will be going into quarantine for two weeks as they eagerly await the safe delivery of the newest member of the family.

 

In the meantime, many of you expressed interest both in the work that Sarah does in Haiti and the work of those who helped in this campaign to bring her family home. To learn more about the project Sarah founded, Olive Tree Projects (which is about keeping Haitian families together!), please visit http://www.olivetreeprojects.com/

 

In addition to the wonderful legal counsel of Hadayt Nazami (Nazami and Associates), the family worked closely with us at the Rural Refugee Rights Network (http://rrrncanada.blogspot.com/), which works both on individual cases as well as the systemic changes we need to see to ensure families like Sarah's and so many others never go through this kind of nightmare again.

 

While today is a day to celebrate, it is also an opportunity to acknowledge that we are angry. Angry that Canada’s immigration system callously proceeds on a daily basis as if people are mere file folders. Angry at a system whose employees far too often refuse to recognize the humanity of those who suffer as a result of cruel and often illegal decisions. Angry that far too many decisions are made by those who never consider –­ much less care about – the consequences of what they do.

 

Last December, in the landmark Vavilov decision, the Supreme Court cautioned: “Many administrative decision makers are entrusted with an extraordinary degree of power over the lives of ordinary people, including the most vulnerable among us. The corollary to that power is a heightened responsibility on the part of administrative decision makers to ensure that their reasons demonstrate that they have considered the consequences of a decision and that those consequences are justified in light of the facts and law.”

 

In this case – as in so many others we have worked on – the decision makers failed to act responsibly and with justification, much less legally. There must be accountability for the suffering they inflict.

 

Indeed, as Sarah herself said three days ago, “I can’t believe my own government is being so cold-hearted when they have the ability under their own legislation to show humanitarian and compassionate consideration of our case. It’s been a real eye-opener when Haitian officials share their frustration with me that Canada is the only country that doesn’t help its citizens in circumstances like these, and yet the United States has no problem whatsoever in recognizing that we are a family and my two kids are immediate family members.”

 

And so we remain committed to pushing for the systemic changes we need.

 

But for tonight, we pause to celebrate, and trust that this long-delayed success story provides hope to others who remain separated by borders and heartless bureaucracies. It is a reminder that when we organize together, when we commit ourselves to the Gandhian concept of satyagraha – “the pitting of one's whole soul against the will of the tyrant” – we can individually and collectively make a difference.

 

Stay tuned. And Stay in Touch!

 

Matthew Behrens

Rural Refugee Rights Network

 

 

 

Friday, September 25, 2020

Final Push Friday: Sarah Arrives at Canadian Border Tonight: Call To Allow Her Dependent Kids In!

Sarah and her children and husband JP on the first leg of the Haiti to Vancouver journey. The Americans and Haitians have helped her with the journey, but her own government has failed thusfar. Keep up the pressure!

Sarah’s family is boarding a Vancouver-bound plane later today after the first leg from Haiti. The Haitian and American governments recognized her legal guardian, adoptive dependent kids (aged 2 and 4) are immediate family members. But she needs her government, Canada, to issue Temporary Resident Permits to her kids. Join our Final Push Friday call-in so these kids are not turned back at the Canadian border. Details below.

Today, Friday, September 25, please make Two Calls (sample message below) to demand Temporary Resident Permits for Jean-Moise (4) and Eva Maria (2). Sarah should not have to choose between her own health and safety and that of her children. Sarah cannot leave her kids behind. Feel free to call your own MP as well, urging them to contact Marco Mendicino, the Immigration Minister.

Please call and write to support this family’s safety EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE SO. The family will be at the border tonight. They must be allowed in.

What to Do
On Friday, September 25, please call Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino at 613-992-6361, 416-781-5583 

Sample phone message (leave one if you get the answering machine)

Hi, my name is XXXXX and I'm calling from TOWN, PROVINCE. I’m calling to support Sarah Wallace and her two legal guardian, dependent, adoptive children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria Doris. They arrive tonight at the Canadian border. The children need Temporary Resident Permits  so they can stay with their Canadian Mother, Sarah, who needs immediate medical attention to deal with complications, as her pregnancy is now at full term.  Please issue the visas today so the family can stay together. The Haitian and American governments have done the right thing. You can too. Thank you." 

YOU CAN ALSO WRITE AN EMAIL!


(Feel free to add in a personal statement at the end—ie, “As a parent, I cannot imagine the impossible choice before Sarah right now” or “People’s lives should not be at risk because of bureaucratic paperwork issues”, etc.)

Subject Line: Don't Turn Away Sarah Wallace’s Kids at Canadian Border: They Arrive Tonight ! Issue Temporary Resident Visas to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris aged 2

To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca; Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca

Cc: Francois-Philippe.Champagne@parl.gc.cabill.blair@parl.gc.ca; tasc@web.caps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca

Dear Minister Mendicino

Late tonight, September 25, Sarah Wallace and her family will arrive at the Canadian border. She is now at full term for her pregnancy and needs to return to deal with complications. Her two dependent, legal guardian adoptive Haitian-born children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria, must be recognized by your government as “Immediate Family Members” and granted temporary resident permits. The Haitian and American governments had no problem assisting this family, and neither should you. 

All of the family documentation before you illustrates what a loving, caring family these two young children enjoy. Forcing them to face possibly indefinite separation if they cannot come to Canada with their mother is cruel and violates our own commitments to the rights of children and families. It further violates our commitments to the rights of women if Sarah, understandably, refuses to leave her kids behind, as that places her life – and that of her expected baby – at increased risk as well, given the extremely limited and precarious state of health services in Haiti.

I am writing to demand that you exercise your power under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and compassionate considerations) to immediately issue Temporary Resident Visas to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris, aged 2 so they can cross the border into Canada with their legal-guardian Canadian Mother, Father and brother.
 
You can issue a permit immediately. Your office has issued similar permits to other Canadian parents, many with far less documentation than has been provided for these 2 children, allowing them to bring Haitian children to Canada. The children’s application for permits – with all the necessary supporting documents that show what a loving, strong family they are – has been received by your office.

Tonight, this family will be knocking on our door. You must answer by opening that door and doing the right thing. 

Your Name and Address


BACKGROUND
Since 2008, Sarah (of Devon, Alberta) has worked tirelessly with the mothers and children of Jacmel, Haiti. As a trained midwife, she established the hugely successful Olive Tree Projects, opening a birth centre to address the crisis of maternal mortality, a recycling business, and foster home to offer safe homes and jobs to local residents. 

In January 2017 Sarah and her husband, Jean-Pierre (JP), took in a very sick, abandoned, baby boy and after a few months began the process of adopting Jean-Moise. In March 2018, Haitian social services dropped off a new-born girl who was found thrown away in a cement bag, the placenta still attached.  When social services hadn’t found a home for this little girl, Sarah and JP began the formal adoption process for Eva-Maria too. Sarah and JP are currently legal guardians and, were it not for the pandemic-induced bureaucratic slowdowns, the final adoption would likely have been approved by now.

The impossible choice faced by this family violates Canada’s own legal commitments and Federal and Supreme Court rulings. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that "childhood is entitled to special care and assistance…[and] the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.”  Indefinitely separating these kids from their loving, adoptive mother is simply wrong.

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada (Baker v. MCI [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817), declared that  "immigration officers are expected to make the decision that a reasonable person would make, with special consideration of humanitarian values such as keeping connections between family members.”   This was echoed by the Federal Court in 2012 (Damte, 2011 FC 1212) when it said a decision maker “ought to place  themselves in the shoes of the person being affected and ask how they would feel in that exact situation.” In February 2020, (Alexis), the Federal Court overturned the decision of an immigration officer who refused to issue a temporary resident permit to a minor citizen of Haiti with a Canadian parent: "The time has assuredly come for someone to take a holistic and full-fledged humanitarian and compassionate review focused on [the child’s] circumstances and needs.  Technicalities and formalities may be relevant to that assessment, but they decidedly must not be at the heart of it.”

Clearly, the decision that these two dependent children are somehow not “immediate family members” is wrong. While Sarah and her family could go to court and likely win, that would take time and resources they just don't have. 

But the Minister of Immigration, Marco Mendicino, has the power to immediately issue temporary resident visas to the kids under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and Compassionate considerations). He’s done it before. He can – and must – do so here once again.

That is why we are stepping up the pressure. Sarah, JP and their family (including their own biological child, Jean-Jacques), cannot win this struggle on their own. They need our help.

Here is a message Sarah sent by video earlier today: 

“Hi, my name is Sarah Wallace. This is a message for Prime Minister Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino. We need your urgent assistance today. In the throne speech, you specifically stated: "The Government will continue to bring in newcomers and support family reunification.” Well, for months I have been trying to come back home from Haiti with my family so I can safely give birth to my baby. But your government insists that two of my legal guardian, adoptive, dependent children, Jean Moise, who is 4, and Eva Maria who is 2, are not my immediate family members. Right now, we are on U.S. soil on the first leg of a day long trip home to Canada. The Haitian government had no trouble  recognizing our family status and giving my children exit permits.  The American government had no trouble recognizing our family status and granting us entry visas. But we still do not know if we will be able to land tonight in Vancouver because you have yet to issue my dependent children Temporary Resident Permits. I am a Canadian citizen whose kids are being better treated by the Haitian and American governments than my own. You must do better. Please don't make me and my kids have to sit at the border asking to be let in. My pregnancy is now full term and I am at risk of serious complications. I need to get home and quarantine before delivery. You have the legal basis, the judicial precedents, and all the paperwork you need to issue the permits for my 2 and 4 year olds. It's the right thing to do. Don't break up our family. Please issue temporary resident permits to Jean Moise and Eva Maria immediately. "

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Pregnant Mother Facing Complications Worries About Friday Night Refusal at U.S./Canada Border, Pleads for Temporary Resident Permits

 

Sarah Wallace rescued Eva Maria at one day old (she was found in a cement bag) and Jean-Moise when no one else would care for him at age 6 months. They are family. But Canada insists the dependent kids are not "immediate family members" even though Sarah and her husband have legal guardianship and have raised them into healthy and happy kids. Sarah urgently needs to get back to Canada to address pregnancy complications, but needs Ottawa to issue Temporary Resident Permits so her kids can come with her. She refuses to abandon them, and Canada's mistreatment of her family is cruel and heartless.

Pregnant Edmonton Mother Faces Possible Rejection of Her Dependent Children at Canadian Border
 
            In a stunning development that shines a highly negative light on Canadian immigration authorities, an Alberta mother – who must urgently return to Canada on September 25 from her work in Haiti because of potentially serious complications with her full term pregnancy – may see her two dependent, legal guardian adoptive children, aged 2 and 4, stranded at the U.S. border unless Ottawa takes immediate action to issue them Temporary Resident Permits.

            Sarah Wallace, an aid worker who has worked tirelessly since 2008 to keep Haitian families together through her highly respected charity Olive Tree Projects, applied for temporary resident visas for two children she and her husband, Jean-Pierre, rescued from certain death when both were abandoned at the ages of 1-day old and 6 months. But the Canadian government informed the parents, remarkably, that Jean-Moise, 4, and Eva Maria, 2, were not considered “immediate family members.”

            “Frankly, I was shocked,” says Wallace. “My whole life is about trying to keep babies with their families, and yet here the Canadian government is forcing me to make an impossible choice between my own health and that of my soon to be born baby and that of my two dependent children. How on earth are Eva Maria and Jean-Moise not immediate family members? These beautiful children were abandoned once already in their lives, one of them left in a cement bag immediately after birth. There’s no way I can leave them behind. We are family.”

            Wallace, originally from Devon, Alberta, has booked tickets for a flight home on Friday, September 25 for her two adoptive children, her biological child (Jean-Jacques, aged 3), and her husband. While the United States has granted them all entry visas to land in Seattle, they have yet to hear from Ottawa about whether they will be issued Temporary Resident Permits to continue their flight into Vancouver. The family have return trip tickets to Haiti booked for January, and Haiti has approved exit visas for Eva Maria and Jean-Moise.

            “I can’t believe my own government is being so cold-hearted when they have the ability under their own legislation to show humanitarian and compassionate consideration of our case,” says Wallace. “It’s been a real eye-opener when Haitian officials share their frustration with me that Canada is the only country that doesn’t help its citizens in circumstances like these, and yet the United States has no problem whatsoever in recognizing that we are a family and my two kids are immediate family members.”

            While Wallace and her family are hoping for a last-minute reprieve, they are concerned about the level of stress this ordeal has had on them as they prepare for what could be a difficult birth. “What are we supposed to do on Friday night, sit at the border until they issue us the permits for kids who are totally dependent on us at the ages of 2 and 4?"

            According to Matthew Behrens of the Rural Refugee Rights Network, “We saw this in another case earlier this year when an elderly care worker in Haiti with ill-health needed to return to Canada with his two adoptive children, and they had to go through three months of needless suffering and anxiety until a massive public campaign was able to win them temporary resident permits,” says Matthew Behrens of the Rural Refugee Rights Network. “There’s plenty of precedents for Ottawa to step in here under their own laws and jurisprudence and issue the permits so Sarah and her family can cross the border, quarantine in place for 14 days, and prepare for what should be a special family moment of a new life coming into this world. In addition to being cruel and illegal, it would really look bad on Canada that it might tell a pregnant mom that she can come in but her dependent children cannot. The family doesn’t want publicity, they don’t want a confrontation, they just want the Canadian government to do what is right. But they’ve been placed in an impossible situation.”

            To arrange an interview with Sarah Wallace, call 011-509-4700-3511

            To reach Sarah’s Canadian counsel, call Hadayt Nazami at 416-627-4379

RURAL REFUGEE RIGHTS NETWORK

PO Box 2121, 57 Foster Street

Perth, ON K7H 1R0

(613) 300-9536

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

URGENT - Haiti Flight THIS FRIDAY! Join "Two-Call Tuesday" for Temporary Resident Permits


 


Canadian Sarah Wallace's at-risk pregnancy is at full term. She must return to Canada on the Sept. 25 flight from Haiti. Canada must recognize her adoptive, legal guardian, dependent children as “Immediate Family Members” so they can join her. On Tuesday, Sept. 22, please make Two Calls (sample message below) to demand Temporary Resident Permits for Jean-Moise (4) and Eva Maria (2). Sarah should not have to choose between her own health and safety and that of her children. Sarah cannot leave her kids behind. 

Please call and write to support this family’s safety EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE SO. The situation in Haiti is rapidly deteriorating. A failure to act by Ottawa may have lethal consequences. 

What to Do
On Tuesday, September 22, please call Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino at 613-992-6361, 416-781-5583; Public Safety Minister Bill Blair at 613-995-0284.

Sample phone message (leave one if you get the answering machine)

Hi, my name is XXXXX and I'm calling from TOWN, PROVINCE. I’m calling to support Sarah Wallace and her two children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria Doris. Time is running out. The children need Temporary Resident Permits so they can return on the September 25 flight with their Canadian Mother, Sarah, who needs immediate medical attention to deal with complications, as her pregnancy is now at full term.  Please issue the permits today so the family can stay together. It's the right thing to do. Thank you." 

YOU CAN ALSO WRITE AN EMAIL!

(Feel free to add in a personal statement at the end—ie, “As a parent, I cannot imagine the impossible choice before Sarah right now” or “People’s lives should not be at risk because of bureaucratic paperwork issues”, etc.)

Subject Line: Urgent: Please Issue Temporary Resident Permits to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris aged 2

To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca; Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca

Cc: Francois-Philippe.Champagne@parl.gc.cabill.blair@parl.gc.ca; tasc@web.caps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca

Dear Ministers Mendicino and Blair,

The tickets are booked for September 25 flights, the last day that Sarah Wallace will be able to fly home from Haiti as she will be 36 weeks pregnant.  Her two dependent, legal guardian Haitian-born children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria, have already been abandoned one too many times in their lives, and must be recognized by your government as “Immediate Family Members” and granted temporary resident permits. 

All of the family documentation before you illustrates what a loving, caring family these two young children enjoy. Forcing them to face possibly indefinite separation if they cannot come to Canada with their mother is cruel and violates our own commitments to the rights of children and families. It further violates our commitments to the rights of women if Sarah, understandably, refuses to leave her kids behind, as that places her life – and that of her expected baby – at increased risk as well, given the extremely limited and precarious state of health services in Haiti.

I am writing to demand that you exercise your power under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and compassionate considerations) to immediately issue Temporary Resident Permits to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris, aged 2 so they can travel to Canada with their legal-guardian Canadian Mother, Father and brother.
 
There is nothing complicated in this request. You can issue a permit immediately. Failure to do so will have tragic consequences.  Should Sarah have complications with this delivery as she did with her first biological baby, there is a chance that Sarah and/or her baby will die.   

Your office has issued similar permits to other Canadian parents, many with far less documentation than has been provided for these 2 children, allowing them to bring Haitian children to Canada. The children’s application for permits – with all the necessary supporting documents that show what a loving, strong family they are – has been received by your office.

This whole crisis appears to arise from a very narrow and bureaucratic reading of the regulations. I believe your government can, and must, do better in this instance.

Your Name and Address


BACKGROUND
Since 2008, Sarah (of Devon, Alberta) has worked tirelessly with the mothers and children of Jacmel, Haiti. As a trained midwife, she established the hugely successful Olive Tree Projects, opening a birth centre to address the crisis of maternal mortality, a recycling business, and foster home to offer safe homes and jobs to local residents. 

In January 2017 Sarah and her husband, Jean-Pierre (JP), took in a very sick, abandoned, baby boy and after a few months began the process of adopting Jean-Moise. In March 2018, Haitian social services dropped off a new-born girl who was found thrown away in a cement bag, the placenta still attached.  When social services hadn’t found a home for this little girl, Sarah and JP began the formal adoption process for Eva-Maria too. Sarah and JP are currently legal guardians and, were it not for the pandemic-induced bureaucratic slowdowns, the final adoption would likely have been approved by now.

The impossible choice faced by this family violates Canada’s own legal commitments and Federal and Supreme Court rulings. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that "childhood is entitled to special care and assistance…[and] the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.”  Indefinitely separating these kids from their loving, adoptive mother is simply wrong.

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada (Baker v. MCI [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817), declared that  "immigration officers are expected to make the decision that a reasonable person would make, with special consideration of humanitarian values such as keeping connections between family members.”   This was echoed by the Federal Court in 2012 (Damte, 2011 FC 1212) when it said a decision maker “ought to place  themselves in the shoes of the person being affected and ask how they would feel in that exact situation.” In February 2020, (Alexis), the Federal Court overturned the decision of an immigration officer who refused to issue a temporary resident permit to a minor citizen of Haiti with a Canadian parent: "The time has assuredly come for someone to take a holistic and full-fledged humanitarian and compassionate review focused on [the child’s] circumstances and needs.  Technicalities and formalities may be relevant to that assessment, but they decidedly must not be at the heart of it.”

Clearly, the decision that these two dependent children are somehow not “immediate family members” is wrong. While Sarah and her family could go to court and likely win, that would take time and resources they just don't have. 

But the Minister of Immigration, Marco Mendicino, has the power to immediately issue temporary resident permits to the kids under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and Compassionate considerations). He’s done it before. He can – and must – do so here once again.

That is why we are stepping up the pressure. Sarah, JP and their family (including their own biological child, Jean-Jacques), cannot win this struggle on their own. They need our help.

Saturday, September 12, 2020

One Week Left to Rescue At-Risk Pregnant Mom, Kids: Please Call/Write on Sept. 13-14

 

Sarah Wallace is over 7 months pregnant and urgently needs to return to Canada from Haiti no later than Sept. 20 due to major medical concerns. Canada coldly and callously claims two of her dependent, legal guardian kids (aged 2 and 4) are not “Immediate Family Members” and cannot return with her. Please call and write (sample messages below) on Sept. 13-14 to urge the immediate approval of Temporary Resident Visas for Jean-Moise (4) & Eva-Maria (2). 

 
Forcing this family to face possibly indefinite separation is cruel, and violates Canada’s binding legal commitments to children and families. Please keep up the pressure, even if you wrote and called last week (for which we are most grateful!)
 
 
BACKGROUND
See an interview with Sarah at https://alberta.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2027321) 
 
Since 2008, Sarah (of Devon, Alberta) has worked tirelessly with the mothers and children of Jacmel, Haiti. As a trained midwife, she established the hugely successful Olive Tree Projects, opening a birth centre to address the crisis of maternal mortality, a recycling business, and foster home to offer safe homes and jobs to local residents. 
 
In January 2017 Sarah and her husband, Jean-Pierre (JP), took in a very sick, abandoned, baby boy and after a few months began the process of adopting Jean-Moise. In March 2018, Haitian social services dropped off a new-born girl who was found thrown away in a cement bag, the placenta still attached. When social services hadn’t found a home for this little girl, Sarah and JP began the formal adoption process for Eva-Maria too. Sarah and JP are currently legal guardians and, were it not for the pandemic-induced bureaucratic slowdowns, the final adoption would likely have been approved by now.
 
The impossible choice faced by this family violates Canada’s own legal commitments and Federal and Supreme Court rulings. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that "childhood is entitled to special care and assistance…[and] the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.” Indefinitely separating these kids from their loving, adoptive mother is simply wrong.
 
In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada (Baker v. MCI [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817), declared that "immigration officers are expected to make the decision that a reasonable person would make, with special consideration of humanitarian values such as keeping connections between family members.” This was echoed by the Federal Court in 2012 (Damte, 2011 FC 1212) when it said a decision maker “ought to place themselves in the shoes of the person being affected and ask how they would feel in that exact situation.” In February 2020, (Alexis), the Federal Court overturned the decision of an immigration officer who refused to issue a temporary resident permit to a minor citizen of Haiti with a Canadian parent: "The time has assuredly come for someone to take a holistic and full-fledged humanitarian and compassionate review focused on [the child’s] circumstances and needs. Technicalities and formalities may be relevant to that assessment, but they decidedly must not be at the heart of it.”
 
Clearly, the decision that these two dependent children are somehow not “immediate family members” is wrong. While Sarah and her family could go to court and likely win, that would take time and resources they just don't have. 
 
But the Minister of Immigration, Marco Mendicino, has the power to immediately issue temporary resident visas to the kids under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and Compassionate considerations). He’s done it before. He can – and must – do so here once again.
 
That is why we are stepping up the pressure. Sarah, JP and their family (including their own biological child, Jean-Jacque), cannot win this struggle on their own. They need our help.
 
WHAT YOU CAN DO
On Sunday and Monday, September 13-14, please flood the offices of Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino with phone calls and emails (samples below) to Issue Temporary Resident Visas for Sarah and JP’s 2 legal guardian, dependent children: Jean-Moise (4) & Eva-Maria (2). You can do this even if you were part of last week’s pressure campaign. Let’s ensure that when Mr. Mendicino and his staff come in to work Monday morning, this case is a top priority on their agenda.
 
SAMPLE EMAIL
(Feel free to add in a personal statement at the end—ie, “As a parent, I cannot imagine the impossible choice before Sarah right now” or “People’s lives should not be at risk because of bureaucratic paperwork issues”, etc.)
 
Subject Line: Urgent: Please Issue Temporary Resident Visas to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris aged 2
To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca; Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca
Cc: Francois-Philippe.Champagne@parl.gc.ca; Soraya.MartinezFerrada@parl.gc.ca; tasc@web.ca; ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca, bill.blair@parl.gc.ca
 
Dear Minister Mendicino,
September 20 is the last day that Sarah Wallace will be able to fly home from Haiti as she will be 35 weeks pregnant. Her two dependent, legal guardian Haitian-born children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria, have already been abandoned one too many times in their lives, and must be recognized by your government as “immediate family members” and granted temporary resident visas. 
 
All of the family documentation before you illustrates what a loving, caring family these two young children enjoy. Forcing them to face possibly indefinite separation if they cannot come to Canada with their mother is cruel and violates our own commitments to the rights of children and families. It further violates our commitments to the rights of women if Sarah understandably refuses to leave her kids behind, as that places her life – and that of her expected baby – at increased risk as well, given the extremely limited and precarious state of health services in Haiti.
 
I am writing to demand that you exercise your power under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and compassionate considerations) to immediately issue Temporary Resident Visas to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris, aged 2 so they can travel to Canada with their legal-guardian Canadian Mother, Father and brother.
 
There is nothing complicated in this request. You can issue a permit immediately. Failure to do so will have tragic consequences. Should Sarah have complications with this delivery as she did with her first biological baby, there is a chance that Sarah and/or her baby will die. 
Your office has issued similar permits to other Canadian parents, many with far less documentation than has been provided for these 2 children, allowing them to bring Haitian children to Canada. The children’s application for permits – with all the necessary supporting documents that show what a loving, strong family they are – has been received by your office.
This whole crisis appears to arise from a very narrow and bureaucratic reading of the regulations. I believe your government can, and must, do better in this instance.

Your Name and Address
 
 
PHONE CALL:
Call Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino at 613-992-6361, 416-781-5583
Sample phone message (leave one if you get the answering machine)
Hi, my name is XXXXX and I'm calling from TOWN, PROVINCE. I’m calling to support Sarah Wallace and her two children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria Doris. The Canadian government must allow these two children into Canada immediately. Time is running out. The children need Temporary Resident Visas no later than September 20 to travel with their Canadian Mother, Sarah, who needs immediate medical attention as she is 7+ months pregnant. Please issue the visas today so the family can stay together. It's the right thing to do. Thank you." 

Monday, September 7, 2020

Call/Write-In Day to Keep At-Risk Canadian Family Together With Temporary Resident Visas


Time is running out for Sarah Wallace and her children.   On Tuesday, September 8, please flood the offices of Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino with phone calls and emails (samples below)  to IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca; Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca  613-992-6361, 416-781-5583 to Issue Temporary Resident Visas for Sarah and JP’s 2 legal guardian children – Jean-Moise (4) & Eva-Maria (2).  Sarah is over 7 months pregnant and urgently needs to return to Canada due to medical concerns.  She and JP are the only parents Jean-Moise (4) & Eva-Maria (2) have known since they were abandoned at 6 months and 1 day old respectively.  

Canada has seriously misread its own Covid-19 Travel Restrictions regulations by claiming the two dependent children – over whom their parents have legal guardianship –  are not “Immediate Family Members”. The government must immediately correct this potentially lethal error.  




Please join us in demanding that Minister Marco Mendicino process and grant Jean-Moise’s and Eva-Maria’s temporary resident visa applications. 

SAMPLE EMAIL:

(Feel free to add in a personal statement at the end—ie, “As a parent, I cannot imagine the impossible choice before Sarah right now” or “People’s lives should not be at risk because of bureaucratic paperwork issues”, etc.)

Subject Line: Please Issue Temporary Resident Visas to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris aged 2

To: IRCC.Minister-Ministre.IRCC@cic.gc.ca; Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca

Cc: Francois-Philippe.Champagne@parl.gc.ca; Soraya.MartinezFerrada@parl.gc.ca;

tasc@web.ca; ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca

Dear Minister Mendicino,

September 20 is the last day that Sarah Wallace will be able to fly home from Haiti as she will be 35 weeks pregnant.  Her two Haitian children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria have already been abandoned one too many times in their lives. Sarah will not leave Haiti without them.  We need your help to bring Sarah back to Canada, united with her family. 

I am writing to demand that you exercise your power under Section 25.1 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Humanitarian and compassionate considerations) to issue Temporary Resident Visas to Jean-Moise Michael Kessa, aged 4, and Eva-Maria Doris, aged 2 so they can travel to Canada with their legal-guardian Canadian Mother, Father and brother.

As you should know, the situation in Haiti has deteriorated over the past few years.  Political instability has led to power outages, gas shortages, riots, roads barricaded, increased indiscriminate violence, frequent kidnappings, and now Covid19 has just added one more serious concern.  There have been weeks of no city power and when there is power it is only on for a few hours every couple of days.   There have been major diesel shortages for weeks on end.  The local and private hospitals are not open during the night if they don’t have any diesel to run their generators when there is no city power.  This, coupled with the possibility of roads being blocked in protest at any point, makes the availability of urgent care extremely uncertain.  

For over 2 years, Sarah has not left Haiti for regular respite because she could not travel with her Haitian children.  Now, at 7 months pregnant, she not only needs to return to Canada for much needed break, but also for the safe delivery of her baby.  

There is nothing complicated in this request. You can issue a permit immediately. Failure to do so will have tragic consequences.  Should Sarah have complications with this delivery as she did with the last there is a chance that Sarah and/or her baby will die.  Is Canada really ready to risk a Canadian Mothers life only because under Covid19 Regulations her children are not considered Immediate family?

Your office has issued similar permits to other Canadian parents, many with far less documentation than has been provided for these 2 children, allowing them to bring Haitian children to Canada. The children’s application for permits – with all the necessary supporting documents that show what a loving, strong family they are – has been received by your office.

As you will see by the extensive documentation to date, their adoption process is well on its way to being complete.  Sarah and JP are committed to completing their children's national adoptions in Haiti and will return to Haiti when necessary to do so. 

Your Name and Address

PHONE CALL:

Call Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino at 613-992-6361, 416-781-5583

Sample phone message (leave one if you get the answering machine)

Hi, my name is XXXXX and I'm calling from TOWN, PROVINCE. I’m calling to support Sarah Wallace and her two children, Jean-Moise and Eva-Maria Doris. The Canadian government must allow these two children into Canada.  The children need Temporary Resident Visas immediately to travel with their Canadian Mother, Sarah, who needs immediate medical attention as she is 7+ months pregnant. Please issue the visas today so the family can stay together. It's the right thing to do. Thank you."