Delaney Windigo
APTN National News
TORONTO – A seven-year-old First Nation girl’s life is in limbo, while she and her father fight to stay in Canada.
Lawyers working on the case are protecting the girl’s privacy and are not releasing her name. Lawyers have decided to use a pseudonym and are calling her “Alexandra.”
“Mr. [Curtis] Lewis was given a temporary reprieve of deportation by the Canadian courts two weeks ago,” said lawyer Allison Rhoades. “However, he’s not totally out of the water. He and his daughter still risk being removed. We have a humanitarian and compassionate application in front of an immigration tribunal of the Canadian government.”
Lewis moved to Canada from Guyana in 1966 and no longer ties to the country.
“Mr. Lewis has lived in Canada for 48 years and has had temporary resident status most of that time,” said Rhoades.
Problems arose for Lewis after he faced four assault convictions dating back to the 1970s, with the most recent occurrence happening in 2002.
“Mr. Lewis got into a couple of scuffles before his daughter was even born and because of this his permanent resident status was taken away,” said Rhoades.
An immigration tribunal was willing to give Lewis the opportunity to stay if he avoided any criminal offences for a year.
“He had what we call a ‘stay’ which is like, it’s a little bit like probation for immigration,” said Rhoades “[But] because he never updated his address when he moved during a period in which he was homeless, essentially at the very end of the one year stay, his status was essentially taken away and he was ordered deported.”
The girl’s mother is Gwich’in, which gives “Alexandra” Indian status and for various reasons her mother is unable to care for her.
Rhoades said the Canadian Border Services Agency did not take the child’s status into account when considering deporting her father.
“The courts and the Canadian immigration system have never given consideration to her special rights as an Aboriginal child,” she said.
Jonathan Rudin is a lawyer at Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto and said he has never dealt with a similar case.
“It’s very unique this has never come up, as far as we know has never been raised as an issue before,” said Rudin.
While the girl isn’t technically facing deportation herself, her father’s lawyers believe she’s left with no choice but to go with her father.
“If he leaves and she doesn’t go with him then there’s no one else who’s going to parent her as far as we know, so she could go into care,” said Rudin.
Both lawyers working on the case are confident they have a strong application for humanitarian and compassionate grounds. However, it could take years before a final decision is made.
“It’s also very important for his daughter to remain in Canada to maintain connection to her Aboriginal heritage and culture… which would be impossible from her father’s country where she’ll be completely cut off from her roots,” said Rhoades.
