Vancouver Island community fighting to prevent refugee claimant's deportation
CBC
Grace Mukadzambo has less than a week to fight for her right to stay in Canada.
Mukadzambo claimed refugee status when she arrived in Canada from Zimbabwe in July 2018. Her work permit renewal was denied at the end of 2022, and now she faces deportation on Jan. 30 to her home country, where she "fears for the safety of her life" due to the violent conditions women face attempting to enter the workforce.
The Vancouver Island community of Courtenay that she has called home in recent years is fighting to let her stay. MP Gord Johns has been working with the immigration minister's office to intervene, and Courtenay city council will vote Wednesday on a resolution calling on the immigration minister to delay the deportation.
"This is unacceptable," said Johns, who has been helping Mukadzambo fight the deportation since November.
"We need the ministry to intervene, halt the deportation order and protect Grace's safety and her security and also ensure that she's got a chance here in Canada where she's already participating and contributing and lifting up the community."
Mukadzambo came to Canada to find a safe place to live and work and to provide for her family in Zimbabwe. She lived in Edmonton for two years, where she worked as a housekeeping aid at a Greater Edmonton Foundation senior residence. After moving to Vancouver Island in 2020, she began working at four local service organizations.
Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) denied her appeal of their decision to deny her refugee status on Jan. 13. Mukadzambo has also applied for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds and has been waiting for a response from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Johns has been working with both the CBSA and IRCC to try to secure her a Temporary Resident Permit to delay the deportation.
"The agents have basically just been saying that it's a normal part of the process, that it can get down to the wire," he said. "We've just been advocating that we need to keep Grace here in Canada."
On Jan. 24, Johns sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Marco Medicino urging him to intervene on Mukadzambo's behalf.
If she is deported, she will not be able to revisit Canada without filing for authorization that must be approved by an immigration officer.
Mukadzambo has depleted her savings to hire legal representation to fight her looming deportation. But if they fail, she will have to board a one-way flight to Zimbabwe on Monday.
"I came to Canada to find a safe place to live and contribute," she wrote in a letter to government officials as she attempted to appeal the deportation.
"However, my plea for refugee status and opportunity to remain here and live my dreams are slipping away."
CBSA denied the CBC's request for an interview and said they can not comment on specific cases.
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