A few hours from being expelled from the country, a Guinean living and integrated in Quebec since 2018 narrowly avoided his deportation scheduled for Friday evening.
• Read also: Last hope for a Guinean to avoid deportation
Kaba Keita finally received a reprieve of a few days from the Canada Border Services Agency. The restaurant worker had just boarded a car heading for the metropolis after saying a difficult farewell. The dismissal was canceled a few minutes later. The flight was scheduled to take off at 10:30 p.m. from Montreal-Trudeau.
Photo by Jean-Francois Racine
Mathieu Pettigrew and Kaba Keita, at work this Friday evening. “It’s a beautiful day but it wasn’t like that a few hours ago,” said the worker with a smile on his face in the restaurant kitchen.
“We walked around the corner and got an email. Film script, we saved him at midnight minus one! You can say that this is the biggest victory of my entire career! », launched with joy Me Maxime Lapointe, lawyer specialized in immigration law.
Threat averted
Me Lapointe is now waiting to obtain a temporary residence permit in order to then obtain a work visa. “I have two options and that does not worry me,” added the lawyer. A further threat of deportation would therefore be rather unlikely.
Kaba Keita implored the Federal Minister of Immigration to grant him a reprieve. He was due to leave the country on Friday evening unless Immigration Minister Sean Fraser intervenes. The office of MP Joël Lightbound has also taken several steps to find a solution.
The newspaper told in early August the story of Kaba Keita, who arrived from Guinea as a refugee in 2018 due to threats from family members.
Four years later, he has rebuilt his life, married, has a job where he is adored, but he has also reconciled with his family, which led to the revocation of his refugee status during the last months.
Back to work
Despite numerous steps, he found himself subject to expulsion. “Governments will have to listen to employers who want to keep these workers threatened with deportation,” concluded Me Lapointe.
The lawyer and Kaba Keita’s employer had even organized a small demonstration in front of the Le Continental restaurant.
“We said goodbye and he came back. There were two emotions in quick succession,” explained co-owner Mathieu Pettigrew. “If we want to support employers, the government will have to understand. I do the washing up three nights a week. »
After a quick visit to his spouse, Kaba Keita was at work on Friday evening in the restaurant crowded with customers.