This is the story of a Mexican family who sought refuge in one of the largest countries in the world, but who have been living cloistered in a church in Sherbrooke for more than three months now. After defying a deportation notice out of fear for their lives, the Rodriguez-Flores beg Canada’s immigration minister to give them a second chance.
Since November 8, the chapel in the basement of the Plymouth-Trinity United Church in Sherbrooke has become a bedroom. It is here, in these walls adorned with woodwork and stained glass windows and under the benevolent gaze of a Blessed Virgin, that Georgina Flores, Manuel Rodriguez and their 18-year-old son, Manolo, fall asleep every night – when they manage to close their eyes.
“We are in uncertainty. We don’t know at all how long we’re going to be here, ”sighs Georgina Flores, well seated in a red armchair that looks like a throne.
Now so close to God, yet the Rodriguez-Flores family has been through hell no less.
A hell that began in a Mexican city in the state of Coahuila controlled by drug cartels, where kidnappings and murders are commonplace. Georgina Flores, an engineer with a passion for cooking, had given up her career to open a restaurant. ” [Les trafiquants] offered to sell drugs there, but we refused,” she explains, recounting having been the victim of several extortion attempts, including calls falsely claiming the kidnapping of her daughter for ransom. “They burned part of my premises. »
It was in 2018. Georgina, her husband and her son — her daughter, an adult, wanted to stay in Mexico with her husband and child — took a one-way ticket to Canada. After obtaining work permits in May 2019, the couple chained jobs, mainly in housekeeping, in Sherbrooke, where they had settled. Canac, Canadian Tire, Super C. “In the morning, we studied French, and in the afternoon, we did the housework,” explains the mother, who was also a maid in a hotel.
Angels to the rescue
In November 2019, when the family expected to obtain a positive response to their asylum application, a summons to the Sherbrooke office of the Canada Border Services Agency foreshadowed the worst. Agents informed her that the asylum application was inadmissible and that she would be sent back to Mexico. They were left with a last resort, the pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA), a process with a very low success rate.
Two years later, on October 7, 2021, the Rodriguez-Flores received more bad news: PRRA was denied, and they would be deported a month later. And as a misfortune never comes alone, they also learned that their lawyer could no longer take care of them. “That’s where our film began,” says Georgina Flores. A film that features a community of angels who have thrown themselves into a fight so that the family can stay.
There was Adriana, the social worker who found a lawyer willing to embark on this race against time to contest the PRRA, Marie-Claude, from human resources at the company where the parents worked, who collaborated preparing the documents, and Anne St-Pierre, their caring nurse, who contacted United Church officials. “I wanted to keep hope, but we needed a plan B,” explains the nurse.
The weekend before the fateful Monday of the dismissal, the United Church board of trustees agreed to provide lodging for the family, as the right to sanctuary is generally respected by border services, even if it has no legal basis.
Fervent Catholic, Georgina Flores was touched to see that this gift from heaven came from a Protestant church. “We are all sons of God here,” Pastor Samuel Dansokho told him reassuringly. Not losing hope, however, that her deportation would be reversed, she multiplied her prayers, while her husband worked until the last minute. “I was like, ‘It’s going to work. »
Three months in “jail”
The suspense will have lasted until the end. On the morning of November 8, the family learned that neither their last resorts — nor their prayers — had worked. Locking themselves in this church without being able to put their noses outside became their only salvation.
After more than three months of isolation, the Rodriguez-Flores do not hide that they are experiencing depressive moments. Manuel beats boredom with drawing and puzzles, and Georgina spends a lot of time in the kitchen. “I feel sad because I can’t go out with my friends or go to school,” explains their son, Manolo, slumped on a loveseat.
But once again, the angels are there. There is Sylvie who gives them French lessons, three psychologists who come to listen to them, teachers from Le Goéland school, who prepare homework for Manolo, and several volunteers and friends who bring them groceries and comfort.
In addition to having set up a fundraising campaign aimed at providing for the needs of the family, this support network launched a petition and organized press conferences and vigils to attract the attention, especially of elected officials. In the office of the federal Liberal MP, Élisabeth Brière, we assure that “regular follow-ups” are made with the ministers concerned.
Added to the family’s disarray is the guilt of having “disobeyed”, explains Georgina, who keeps asking “Canada’s forgiveness”. It’s when you commit a crime that you go to prison, her husband intervenes. “But here, I feel in prison, when all we did was save our lives. »
In the meantime, the Rodriguez-Flores are betting everything on obtaining a temporary residence permit, which would authorize the family to stay in the country while awaiting the result of their application for permanent residence on humanitarian grounds, which will be filed shortly. Because although it is the house of God, Georgina Flores does not see herself staying in the church for long. She has projects, a life to rebuild. “We just want a second chance,” she said. I am confident that the minister is listening to us. Even if it requires believing in miracles.