After their asylum application was rejected, the Zamudio Quintana family, Mexicans who have been living in Quebec for six years, are living out their last days with their adopted community in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve: after having exhausted all their appeals, they will likely be expelled from the country on Friday.
But her friends, the school’s teachers and community, and several federal and provincial elected officials—including two Québec solidaire MNAs and the Minister of Tourism and Liberal MNA for Hochelaga, Soraya Martinez—have decided otherwise. Through petitions and letters to federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller, they are mobilizing to prevent this family of three children, two of whom attend Saint-Clément Elementary School, from returning to the hell of the Mexican cartels that they fled in 2018.
“The parents work, they are very involved in the school. That’s the kind of family we want to stay!” explains Marie-Ève Rancourt, a lawyer and mother whose children attend the same school as the Zamudio Quintana family. “We are trying to achieve our goals on the political and legal side. The school’s teachers have written beautiful letters of support about the children. The employers have also written letters asking the minister to reverse the decision.”
José Zamudio and Norma Quintana both work, respectively as a driver and supervisor, for the maintenance firm Dexterra. Their three children, Ulises, Maria José and Angel, are respectively in second year of secondary school, 4e and 3e grade, are fully integrated into their host community, assures their father José Zamudio. “They are little Quebecers. They now speak French better than Spanish, thanks to their friends,” he said in an interview with Duty. “It’s cruel to take all that away from them.”
“We are like zombies”
A few days before their eviction, the family says they are still in shock. “We are like zombies,” Zamudio said. “Every day that goes by, we are more anxious because we don’t know what is going to happen. We feel a lot of support, but the reality is that only the minister can do something.”
Norma Quintana sees the incomprehension and despair in her children’s eyes. “My daughter tells me she doesn’t understand why we have to leave. She said, ‘Mom, we live here!’” she says, her voice breaking. “My children don’t want to know anything about leaving. I’m tired of seeing them cry.”
For the Zamudio Quintana family, there is more than just the shock of having to leave their adopted country. There is also the fear of returning to a Mexico still struggling with the violence of organized crime. “We are afraid of going back there, of knowing that we could be found and that one of our children could be taken away from us.”
José Zamudio had a repair and mechanic shop in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. As is often the case in some areas controlled by the cartels, you have to pay a “fee” to be allowed to operate a business. “But if we paid, we didn’t have enough to support our family,” his wife said.
After being threatened, the family decided to leave, almost overnight, for Canada. “We told the children we were going on vacation. We didn’t know what to do,” she added.
Their asylum application was denied on the grounds that the family could relocate to a safer part of the country. “That’s the only reason their application was denied. Their story was deemed credible at first,” said their friend Marie-Ève Rancourt. Subsequently, the various appeals filed were unsuccessful, particularly due to the deception of a “fake lawyer” in immigration, a type of fraud that is increasingly common and denounced by the Bar. “We lost a lot of money,” lamented Mr. Zamudio.
Many supports
Faced with the impending expulsion, many parents of the school and friends of the family decided to write letters of support to Minister Miller. The Duty was able to consult several touching letters written in particular by teachers from the Saint-Clément school. Letters that testify to their attachment to the children and implore the minister to “save” this family. Launched last Thursday, a petition has already collected more than 1,200 signatures. “Students have started another petition that has already been signed by a hundred children,” said Mr.me Rancourt.
Quebec Solidaire MP Alexandre Leduc says he did not hesitate to support these Mexicans living in his riding. Part of his salary increase as an MP was used to pay for the work of the lawyer on the case. A letter of support for the family will also be sent to Minister Marc Miller, he says. “The children know almost nothing about Quebec. Their parents have jobs, they do not live off the government and they are all appreciated by their community. What is the panic about sending them home to a place in Mexico that would not be safe?”
The Minister of Immigration does not have the power to overturn a decision made by an immigration officer but can intervene to grant a temporary residence permit allowing an individual or family to regularize their situation. According to his office, Minister Miller is “sensitive to any situation that involves cases of deportation,” said communications director Aissa Diop. More specific details on this case cannot be provided for confidentiality reasons.