Verónica and Oscar Velasco live in a basement apartment in
Dartmouth, off a street named after a flower. Like many couples in the
HRM, their apartment is littered with toys and books and other remnants
of young children. Unlike other couples, however, they may face
deportation from Canada.
Verónica and Oscar fled Mexico as refugees in the summer of
2008, fearing persecution for themselves and their four children. For
the past year, they have been living and working in Halifax, waiting
for their refugee hearing with the Immigration and Refugee Board
(IRB).
Last week they received written notice—completely in French, a
language they do not speak—that their claim was refused.
“You couldn’t ask for better people,” says their landlord, Ed
Flewelling. Verónica and Oscar are both working two jobs and
their children are excelling in school.
Four days after Verónica and Oscar received their
determination, Immigration minister Jason Kenney released an
announcement that Mexicans (along with Czechs) will now need visas to
enter Canada.
Mexico is the top destination for Canadian tourists. But while
Canadians sip margaritas on cloistered resorts, Mexicans are being
negatively affected by the narco economy that has led to police and
government corruption and a violent, volatile climate. In 2008, there
were more than 10,000 drug-related deaths in Mexico, and 9,400 Mexicans
sought asylum in Canada.
The Velascos fear for their lives if they go back to Mexico. “Coming
here was the hardest thing I have ever done,” says Verónica. “I
miss my family, I miss Guadalajara, I miss everything. But, for our
safety and the future of our kids, I know we can’t go back.”
Marie Kettle, coordinator with the Atlantic Refugee and Immigrant
Services Society, says that over the past year more than a third of
ARISS’s clients have been Mexican.
“The fear of the people I’ve met is genuine,” she says. “And the
Canadian government is not giving enough credence to their fear and
situation.”
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This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2009.
