Jamaican family fears deportation
Canada is home for Natasha Gordon-Jones and her family.
The widowed mother of three from Jamaica, however, fears she will soon be sent back to a country where her family’s lives will be in jeopardy — at the hands of the same criminals who killed her husband Everton Jones six years ago.
Despite applying for refuge status, Gordon-Jones has a hearing today with Canada Border Service Agency, and is facing deportation.
The agency has not given her an explanation, and “they never usually do,” she said.
“To be honest, I am clueless,” she said.
She has been working steady since obtaining her permit to do so, employed as an investigator at a local debt collection firm.
“I’ve not gotten any assistance from anybody. I’m not even qualified to get baby bonus, although I pay my taxes every year,” she said. “It’s not like we have criminal records. I’m not a criminal … I don’t know what it is I need to do.”
And for her children, “this is their life.”
Her son Jason-Lee, 17, spent the past five years attending local schools, making many friends in the process.
Jason-Lee graduates from Holy Cross Secondary School this week, and — if the family is allowed to stay in Canada — is currently making up his mind about whether to attend Carleton or Brock university since both institutions accepted applications from the honour roll student.
Michael, the youngest of her three children who requires specialized medical care for sickle cell anemia, graduates from Canadian Martyrs Catholic Elementary School this week, with plans to enrol at Holy Cross in September. Her oldest child Sasha, was married to Adam Tykoliz, a Canadian, two years ago.
At their last hearing with Canada Border Service Agency in February, the family was allowed to remain in the country until her children completed their education. But last week, Gordon-Jones said she received a letter from the agency, telling her their next hearing was taking place today.
If they are forced to leave the country, Gordon-Jones said there is nothing awaiting them in Jamaica, but fear.
“There’s no home. There’s nothing for them,” she said.
Gordon-Jones said her husband, who owned a scrap metal business in Spanish Town, was murdered on July 29, 2011, after refusing to pay extortion money to a gang.
She said the family started getting death threats following Everton’s murder, and they fled Jamaica to stay with her sister in Mississauga.
Gordon-Jones said she provided all the information she had to back up her claim for refugee status.
“They got everything, from police to everything that I’m able to access,” she said.
And she’s confident that threat against her family still exists. For instance, she said the Jamaican home she once lived in was firebombed two years ago.
While many people consider Jamaica to be safe, she said there’s a dark side to the popular tourist destination.
“It’s OK on the north coast, but not in Spanish Town where I lived.”
She said some police there are “as corrupt as the criminals.”
“Why are they sending me back to that, when I ran to Canada for refuge?” she asked.
Still, the family was content to struggle quietly, until Jason-Lee told a teacher about the family’s plight in November.
Students and staff at Holy Cross quickly rallied behind the family.
Jason-Lee’s English teacher Catherine Chin Yet called him “a stellar student” with an “amazing work ethic.”
“He’s greatly respected in our school community,” she said.
She said Jason-Lee should have been focused on examinations during the past few weeks, rather than worrying about being kicked out of the country.
“These are things he shouldn’t have to think about at this point, especially being the student that he is. He takes his work so seriously,” Chin Yet said.
She said there was a tremendous outpouring of support from Holy Cross students, as well as alumni, when they learned about the problems the family faced.
Jason-Lee’s fellow students were “shocked” and “don’t understand how something like this could happen in Canada,” Chin Yet added.
“We talk about social justice everyday, and this is it. This is their call to action and they’ve responded. They wanted to support Jason. We’re a family at Holy Cross.”
The students began a letter writing campaign, while a Facebook group supporting the family called Our CAN includes the Jones was created.
The students also reached out to federal government representatives, including St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle.
Bittle quickly added his support.
He first used his experience to get the bottom of the case, and really looked into the situation “because I don’t want to be the MP who brings every single case to the minister’s office because I don’t believe I’ll achieve any success if I’m behind every case.”
But the Jones family has all of the elements, he said.
“They’re working hard and they’re part of our community already. It’s not a matter of will they integrate,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer.”
Bittle sponsored a federal government petition for the family, which has garnered 643 signatures since it went live Feb. 28.
The petition, which ends Wednesday at 2:28 p.m., calls on Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen to “repeal the decision to deport Natasha, Jason-Lee, and Michael Jones to Jamaica and to grant them landed immigrant status in Canada. They are representative of what makes Canada a beacon of hope to people from all over the world who are looking for a safe place to pursue their dreams. They have worked hard, excelled in school, and are vital members of our vibrant Canadian community.”
The petition can be accessed online at petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e 808.
Bittle said he has also spoken personally to Hussen about the case, and office staff have been reminding the minister of immigration about the case on a weekly basis.
“It’s something we’re pushing hard on,” Bittle said. “We’ve been keeping them in the loop. They know the situation and they’re helping us out the best they can.”