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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Help Stop the Deportation of Jose Figueroa and his Family


[Note some of the links on this page are no longer working, if you have any questions please contact us at wearejose@gmail.com, and please visit the new fb page Click on this link to visit the new official WE ARE JOSE FACE BOOK PAGE. Please click 'like' on the community fb page when you visit.
Langley BC, married father of three ordered deported,after calling Canada home for 13 years, 

José Figueroa is a Salvadorean married father of three Canadian born children who has lived in Langley, BC for over 13 years but who is now facing a deportation order due to his affiliation 20 years ago with the Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation (FMLN) in El Salvador.

At that time, while a university student, José was working with his student union to speak out against the human rights abuses of a violent repressive government that was using death squads to kill any opposition.  When José came to Canada, he told Canadian authorities about his association with the FMLN, a coalition of opposition forces fighting against the murderous Salvadorean military government. The Canadian government knew for 13 years that José had been associated with the FMLN, and it never expressed any concerns - until now. So many years later, Canadian authorities are claiming that the FMLN is a terrorist organization and that José must leave because his association with the organization 20 years ago makes him a security threat.

The FMLN, currently the governing political party in El Salvador, is not a terrorist organization and never has been.  It is wrong for the Canadian government to deport José for speaking out for democracy and human rights in El Salvador. José is not a security threat. On the contrary, he is a model citizen who has been a member of the Langley Lutheran church for 13 years. If he is deported this will be devastating for him and his family. What's more, his son has autism and if he is uprooted to El Salvador will not have any of the vital special needs supports available to him now.  

The Canadian government's decision to deport José has serious implications not only for José and his family but for all current and former refugee in Canada who were ever involved in movements in their home countries to speak out for democracy and against oppressive and violent regimes.
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If  your are interested in helping Jose and his family or would like to be get email updates, in BC you can contact sashabwood@yahoo.com, or in Toronto, Rene at:  info@barrio-nuevo.org or you can send e-mail to Jose directly at jfigueroa@shaw.ca.

Figueroa Case: What you can do - PDF Print E-mail
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SUPPORT THE FIGUEROA FAMILY: 

1) Send an email or letter to the Ministers of Public Safety and Immigration[click here for sample letter]:  Voice your concern and request this mistake be fixed quickly, to the two key Cabinet Ministers who can intervene in José's case. See email addresses provided below. 

2) El Salvadoreans, FMLN members and supporters, write to the Canadian government but also to the El Salvadorean government requesting that for help to resolve this mistake and mistaken categorization of the FMLN.
  • Write to the Salvadorean Ministry of External Relations ( info@rree.gob.sv This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) asking for diplomatic intervention in José’s case by clarifying with Canadian authorities that the FMLN is not and never has been a terrorist organization and that subsequently they should not qualify as inadmissible Salvadoreans linked to the current governing political party in El Salvador. 
3) Contact your MP [click here to find your MP]  Send them a note or give him a call asking them to please intervene and help clarify with the Candian government that Jose should not be deported based on his past assocation with the FMLN group, and asking them to please request that the Minister of Public Safety excempts Jose and his family from deportation.

4) Request a copy of the petition [click here to email a request for the petition]:  This petition is being presented before Parliament.  Please sign the petition and/or help gather signatures for it.

5) Donate:  The legal costs for challenging the deportation are high.
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The Figeroa Family Legal Fund:
DONATECheques payable to:

Jose Figueroa
c/o Walnut Grove Lutheran Church,
20530 88 Avenue,
Langley, BC
V1M 2Y6
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Email addresses: Send letters to the Minister of Public Safety, Minister Toews, Copies (Cc) to email addresses below [so that he can't say he didn't receive them.]

Ministers: Toews.V@parl.gc.ca ; Kenney.J@parl.gc.ca

Copies (Cc) to: Harper.S@parl.gc.ca ; Kent.P@parl.gc.ca ; Holland.M@parl.gc.ca ; Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca ; Rae.B@parl.gc.ca ; Davies.D@parl.gc.ca ; Chow.O@parl.gc.ca ; Dewar.P@parl.gc.ca ; mourama@parl.gc.ca ; stcyrt@parl.gc.ca ; Deschamps.J@parl.gc.ca

Please also include your own MP, whose contact information you can find here.

Please also send a copy of your letter to Mr. Figueroa’s church who is supporting his legal campaign ( wglc@telus.net ) and to a volunteer member of a group helping to stop Jose's deportation, sashabwood@yahoo.com

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For more information about Jose's case click on links below: 

CTV -Oct 12 Community rallies in support for Jose Figueroa
Jose and his family in last fight to stay in Canada (click here to read Langley time story)
Langley Times story (September 28th)
CBC The National-Jose Figueroa in final fight to stay in Canada 
CTV News Story
The murder of Oscar Romero and the political context of El Salvador at the time of the war 

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Thanks for all your support for Jose and his family!

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1 comment:

  1. HarpalarpOctober 21, 2010 at 6:00 PM

    Great work! You are very committed to helping Jose. This blog is great, I'm going to recommend it in my next blog post about Jose. Have you heard the news about the CLC endorsing Jose's struggle? http://harpalarp.blogspot.com/2010/10/canadian-labour-congress-writes-letter.html

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