J’can family gets 12-month reprieve amid Canada deportation threat

A Jamaican family who fled the country and is facing deportation from Canada has been given a year to prove integration in the North American country after being granted a 12-month temporary resident permit (TRP).

George Lindo, his wife Jillandre, and their four children – including Tamarri, a rising track and field star and Olympic hopeful, and four-year-old Tameliah, who is Canadian – have been issued work and study permits after a countrywide outcry.

The Lindo family said they fled to Canada in 2019 to escape targeted violence in Jamaica.

“’During those 12 months, they must find some other way to get permanent resident status and permanent immigration status. If not, they become undocumented again,” said Syed Hussan, executive director of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, which has been assisting the family.

But what has been happening in Canada, Hussan told The Gleaner on Thursday, is that the central government has promised a regularisation programme – permanent resident status for undocumented people – but has not yet delivered on it since its announcement in December 2021.

He said, if the programme is implemented, the Lindo family may apply. If not, they may apply for humanitarian and compassionate considerations.

This would be a second application on those grounds, should the family take the latter route, having been denied the first time.

“So, they would be making the same application, hoping for a different result,” Hussan said.

The family’s deportation was scheduled for Wednesday, July 10, but it was halted after nearly 2,000 people wrote letters to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marc Miller.

Hundreds of others made phone calls, calling on the federal government to take action.

Hussan said the first legal application for humanitarian and compassionate considerations was “turned down incorrectly”, and noted that the family’s immigration attorney Aidan Simardone has already appealed this.

He said success rates vary.

Efforts by The Gleaner to reach Simardone for comment were unsuccessful.

“One of the main criteria for successful humanitarian application is integration into Canada. You prove integration by showing many different things, including economics, jobs, friends, and being a part of a community,” said Hussan.

“The fact that he (Tamarri) is now an Olympic hopeful would be seen as a sign of integration into Canada and may result in a positive decision, we hope. But, again, as I said, it’s impossible to predict the outcome,” Hussan said.

In a statement posted on Migrant Workers Alliance for Change’s website, George said his family went through “much tribulation and stress” to get to this point.

He said that having the one-year reprieve feels like a breath of fresh air.

“While the journey towards permanent residency continues, this TRP is significant and brings renewed hope for the future. I’m grateful to all parties involved for their continued and unwavering support. At the same time, this should not have happened, and should not happen to anyone. I urge the government to keep their promise and regularise all undocumented people,” the father said.

George, a former political activist for the People’s National Party, is said to have survived three murder attempts on his life.

Simardone said the status should have been granted to the family upon their arrival in the country.

He said many others like them are deported and killed.

“To stop this from happening again, the government must grant permanent resident status to undocumented people arriving in Canada to make a better life,” he said.

Further, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change said Tamarri is an exceptional athlete with deep ties to his community, and deserves to remain in Canada.

The organisation said, every day, at least 40 people are torn away from their families and communities and deported to places of danger and death, despite Trudeau’s promise to ensure equal rights for undocumented people.

Every one of them is a beloved champion of their communities, and each of them deserves life and status, the organisation said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com