No One Is Illegal – Toronto
\nMedia Advisory
\nApril 5, 2018
\nwww.nooneisillegal.org<\/p>\n
Media Contact: Mary Foster, Solidarity Across Borders (Montr\u00e9al), 514-222-0205; M. Lee, No One Is Illegal-Toronto, 647-403-2239<\/p>\n
Demonstrators Hit Up Toronto MP Offices Demanding Action Against Community Organizer\u2019s Deportation <\/p>\n
Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto band together to stop the deportation of undocumented community organizer.<\/p>\n
Toronto — Migrant justice activists and local area residents will be demonstrating outside the MP offices of Arif Virani, Cynthia Freeland and Bill Morneau on April 5th to demand a stop to the scheduled deportation of Lucy Francineth Granados.<\/p>\n
Lucy, a community organizer with the Non Status Women\u2019s Collective and ATTAP (the Temporary Workers Association) in Montr\u00e9al, was brutally arrested in late March and since then has been held in jail and is facing deportation on April 13th. A 9-year resident of Montr\u00e9al, Lucy is well-known in her community for organizing for migrant justice and workers rights. Making constant sacrifices in the face of her precarity as an undocumented migrant, Lucy has worked tirelessly to make Montr\u00e9al a better city for all. Her scheduled deportation comes just as her application for permanent residence is due to be evaluated. Held in a windowless cell, Lucy\u2019s physical and mental health has deteriorated and she has been rushed to emergency medical services twice. Multiple actions demanding the stop to her deportation have occurred and continue as her community rallies around her, calling for the government to #LetLucyStay.<\/p>\n
WHAT: Roving Rally for Lucy<\/p>\n
WHERE: 1596 Bloor Street West (1:00pm); 344 Bloor street West (1:30pm); 430 Parliament Street (2:00pm)<\/p>\n
WHEN: 1:00pm; 1:30pm; 2:00pm, Thursday, April 5, 2018<\/p>\n
WHO: Migrant justice organizers, community members, No One Is Illegal – Toronto<\/p>\n
VISUALS: Masked community members holding banners and signs inside MP offices<\/p>\n
BACKGROUND<\/p>\n
At 6am on March 20th, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) entered the home of Lucy Francineth Granados, a member of the Non Status Women\u2019s Collective and ATTAP (Temporary Workers Association) and violently arrested her, injuring her arm. Since her arrest she has been detained in a windowless cell at the Laval Immigration Detention Centre pending deportation.<\/p>\n
Lucy is the sole financial support for her three children. They live in Guatemala with their grandmother and depend entirely on the remittances sent by their mother for all their basic needs (food, shelter, school fees, etc.). If Lucy were deported, her children would immediately lose their sole source of financial support.<\/p>\n
After the death of her husband and being threatened by a local gang, Lucy traveled alone through Mexico on the infamous La Bestia train to the US and later to Canada. She has lived in Montr\u00e9al for 9 years.<\/p>\n
Last summer she filed a humanitarian application for permanent residence in an attempt to regularize her status. In January, a CBSA officer informed her lawyer that Lucy\u2019s file would not be studied unless she turned herself in to face deportation. The CBSA officer illegally misrepresented the situation. Neither Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) nor CBSA have responded to her lawyer\u2019s demand that the situation be clarified.<\/p>\n
According to IRCC, her file is being evaluated, and a response could be expected at any time, should she be allowed to remain in Canada. Unless Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale intervenes to suspend the deportation, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen expedites processing of her file, or the City of Montr\u00e9al takes its responsibility and commitment as a self-proclaimed \u201cSanctuary City\u201d seriously, Lucy will likely be deported before her file is determined.<\/p>\n
Beginning on April 3, mothers across Montr\u00e9al have been showing their support for Lucy by sitting-in outside of the CBSA offices in Montr\u00e9al (1010 St. Antoine O) in a \u201cMothers for Lucy\u201d Action. <\/p>\n
Lucy is our friend, neighbour, and community organizer. We demand that the government #LetLucyStay, end all deportations and detentions, and grant full status for all.
\nMore information & further updates: https:\/\/bit.ly\/2GrwsZk
\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No One Is Illegal – Toronto Media Advisory April 5, 2018 www.nooneisillegal.org Media Contact: Mary Foster, Solidarity Across Borders (Montr\u00e9al), 514-222-0205; M. Lee, No One Is Illegal-Toronto, 647-403-2239 Demonstrators Hit Up Toronto MP Offices Demanding Action Against Community Organizer\u2019s Deportation…<\/p>\n