Notice to temporary foreign workers: there is not much room for maneuver if you do not respect the laws and it can be heartbreaking for your loved ones.
Karine Vendette, a day laborer in a bolt company in Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil, can attest to this. The father of the baby she is about to give birth to is a Mexican temporary foreign worker (TEF). He is also the father of her 2 year old son. On November 27, this 32-year-old man, Damian Ramirez, was sent back to his country after seven years in Quebec.
The reason ? Impaired driving.
His arrest took place on September 19, 2020, at 1 a.m., in Saint-Hyacinthe. Mr. Ramirez had 120 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, above the legal limit of 80 mg per 100 ml. This was a first offense.
Karine Vendette does not want to minimize “her gesture”. What he did was “serious”, she admits. But the consequences on her life and that of her family are “disproportionate”, believes the 39-year-old woman.
What emerges from this story is that a foreigner living in Canada with temporary status, such as an asylum seeker, a foreign worker or student, is in a sense in an ejection seat. The repercussions of his failings or errors are heavier than if he were a Canadian citizen.
“Far from being rosy”
“When I got pregnant, I didn’t know that drinking and driving was a serious crime that led to expulsion and inadmissibility for five years,” explains Karine Vendette, in her home in Saint-Pierre. Hyacinthe, where we met her.
“I had no idea about that. If I had known what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have had children. What I’m experiencing at the moment is far from rosy, it’s far from fun. I’m in the final miles of my pregnancy, spending my days trying to play lawyer, filling out paperwork and stressing out. »
Mme Vendette met Damian Ramirez in 2018. Both worked for Les Viandes Lacroix, a poultry processing plant in Saint-Hyacinthe. Mr. Ramirez had been stationed there since November 3, 2017, with a closed work permit.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KARINE VENDETTE
Karine Vendette, her husband Damian Ramirez and their son Roméo.
Five months into their relationship, in April 2020, he was arrested for drunk driving. Karine Vendette became pregnant with their first child the following January. At that time, she was convinced that her partner was not going to be sent back to his country. Things were going to get better, she told herself. We weren’t going to separate a family. But she was wrong.
On April 16, 2021, Damian Ramirez received his sentence after pleading guilty: $1,500 fine and ban from driving for one year. Six weeks later, he was summoned by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
“There, we are told that given his conviction, he is inadmissible,” relates his partner.
The CBSA officer also informed them that they could request a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA), a procedure that allows people subject to a removal order to request protection. by describing, in writing, the risks to which they believe they will be exposed if they return to their country.
Searching for a lawyer
All the rage: Karine Vendette and Damian Ramirez started looking for an immigration lawyer. On Google, they typed “PRRA lawyer” into the search bar. The first name is that of Robin Dejardin Law Firms inc. They contacted him and decided to do business with him for the future.
Then, in July 2021, “for love”, but also to facilitate the immigration process, the couple got married. A month later, he applied for sponsorship. On March 8, 2022, this was refused. Mr. Ramirez is not eligible due to his impaired driving conviction.
Nothing is simple in this matter.
October 11, 2022, new summons to the CBSA. The couple learned that no PRRA application in their name was being considered. However, he believed that his lawyer had filed this request on June 14, 2021.
Mme Vendette filed a complaint against Me Dejardin “for professional misconduct” at the Quebec Bar on October 3. The Press tried unsuccessfully to contact Me Dejardin, who disputes the facts of the complainant in this case.
On October 27, Mr. Ramirez was summoned again by the CBSA. This time he was told he had to leave the country on November 27 unless he got a postponement.
On November 21, Karine Vendette filed two requests on her behalf: a request for permanent residence for “humanitarian consideration” and a request for an “administrative stay” for the postponement. The processing time for permanent residence is 20 months. The deferral request was refused by the CBSA on November 23.
“Discrimination”
On November 27, Mr. Ramirez had no choice. He had to fly to Mexico.
Since his departure, Mme Vendette moves heaven and earth so that he can return, and contests a decision in Federal Court. She contacted deputies, senators, ministers.
His file, which relates all the procedures, is 140 pages long. It testifies to the energy and courage of this woman who embarked on a difficult fight for someone who did not initially have the necessary knowledge to navigate the administrative and legal maze of immigration.
This also reminds us that without a lawyer, or even without financial resources to have access to a lawyer, a simple citizen, and even more so a foreigner, who must face linguistic and cultural barriers risks failure.
“It’s certain that he will come back,” believes Karine Vendette. But how soon? I am due to give birth by cesarean section in January. Who will take care of my son while I’m in the hospital for three days? I don’t have a family I can count on. I am a child of the DPJ.
“What angers me is that if my children had a father who was a permanent resident, refugee or Canadian, they would never have had to experience this. It’s discrimination. »