'My heart is so much hurting': Kenyan father facing deportation pleads to stay

A Kenyan man who is under threat of deportation is questioning why his refugee application was denied and why he may be forced to leave Canada.

David Kipkoech Keter cradles his five-month-old daughter in his arms as he sits on the couch next to his wife, Kalombe Mukuba, in his Halifax apartment. They are worried that the life they've built together is about to fall apart.

"I don't know what will happen to my life," Keter says. "I don't know what will happen to my family."

Keter came to Canada from Kenya on a visitor visa in 2016 and claimed refugee status on the basis that he is gender non-conforming. He does not want to make public any further details about that claim, because if he is deported it could increase his risk of persecution, he says.

His refugee application was denied, as was a humanitarian and compassionate claim and a pre-removal risk assessment application.

He says Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada determined that Kenya is safe for him to return to, but he disputes that.

"I think persecution is already over there, like, waiting for me.… [I'm] fearing of my life, like, OK, maybe they going to kill me."

In April, he received a letter from the Canada Border Services Agency asking him to obtain travel documents in preparation for deportation, which is scheduled for June 9.

He has complied with all of the agency's demands, despite his fears of being deported.

"I am a good abiding citizen. I follow the process," he says. "I have to produce for them, although my heart is so much hurting."

Keter and Mukuba are holding out some hope that Mukuba's spousal sponsorship application for permanent residency, which was filed in August, will be successful. And they question why Keter is being deported before that process concludes.

Although Keter came to Canada by himself, he soon created a new life here. He met his wife, a Canadian citizen, and her son, who is now 10, and they recently had a baby. Both children are also Canadian citizens.

Keter says he has worked hard during his time in Canada, has no criminal record and pays his taxes.

He held jobs in a food-processing plant and in a nursing home, including during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.