New West family fleeing death threats in Mexico set to be deported

Claudia Alejandra Zamorano Gomez can’t stop thinking about a day in July she calls one of the worst days of her life.

The New West resident says it was July 8 when her family was traumatized during a meeting with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Zamorano Gomez and her family had been through other interviews in the past, but she says this experience was on a whole other level.

“They took [all the adults’] fingerprints. They didn’t [take my daughter’s]. And I asked why they asked me to bring her if they will not need it. And they just said, OK, you will be [deported],” Zamorano Gomez says, choking back tears.

Gomez is especially worried about how her nine-year-old daughter is dealing with the traumatic experience. New West Anchor is not sharing the daughter’s name, to respect the family’s request to keep her identity private.

“For [a nine-year-old], how can she understand such terrible terrifyingness? She cannot sleep right now, she cried and asked why we cannot be here if we are not bad people?” Zamorano Gomez says, adding that her daughter has spent her school-aged years in Canada. The youngster continues to see a counsellor to cope.

The family says this has amplified months of nightmarish experiences for Zamorano Gomez, along with her mother-in-law Leticia “Letty” Bazan Porto, and Bazan Porto’s sons Andres Obed Liberato Bazan and Isaias Alain Liberato Bazan; Andres is Claudia’s husband. With the threat of deportation looming, Zamorano Gomez had to pause as she remembered the two miscarriages she suffered.

“I’ve been dealing with my mental health. I’m taking medication to curb all of this. And every time we go to CBSA interviews, [they] impact my daughter a lot.”

The family came to Canada from Mexico four years ago, escaping death threats from people involved in organized crime. Zamorano Gomez did not feel comfortable speaking about what happened. “I want to keep that information [private] because we don’t know if we are going back, and for our [safety], I’d prefer [to] share later.” All previously applied for permanent residency under humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Zamorano Gomez works in the COVID ward at Royal Columbian Hospital. A housekeeper, her job goes beyond keeping spaces clean. “[I’m] doing the work that nobody wants to do. I also translate for seniors, patients who don’t speak English,” she says, noting that just last week she tested positive for the virus.

Despite the hardships, she loves her work, while her husband and brother-in-law enjoy their work in construction.

“My husband Andres and my brother-in-law Isaias, they work in construction as carpenters. Right now they work [for] CWL,” says Zamorano Gomez.

Both CWL and the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) fully support the family’s application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Barb Nederpel, the president of the HEU, was emotional as she spoke of the work Zamorano Gomez has done to keep patients and coworkers safe.

“Our environmental cleaners in these health-care facilities are critical to keeping everyone safe, and for Claudia to go through all of that for so long only to be deported? There’s only one word. That’s heartbreaking,” says Nederpel.

Ingrid Mendez of the Watari Counselling and Support Services Society attested to the good-natured, community-oriented spirit of the family, adding that Zamorano Gomez’s mother-in-law is a prolific volunteer for multiple organizations like the South Granville Seniors Centre, the Carnegie Community Centre, and Mission Possible. At Watari Counselling, Bazan Porto is a well-known volunteer cook.

“She’s one of the main chefs at Watari, delivering those meals,” says Mendez. “Making sure that the community has something to eat…but she’s also a key part of producing food hampers every week.” Mendez says what is happening to the family should not be happening in Canada.

“Canada is practically torturing this family.”

Sanctuary Health’s Omar Chu points to this case as an indicator of a larger discriminatory problem. Chu says it’s ridiculous to see Zamorano Gomez and her family seemingly tossed aside after contributing to industries deemed essential work during the pandemic.

Chu points to a policy announced in 2019: out-of-status construction workers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were recognized for their economic contributions to the industry. The brothers are refugee claimants in BC, and are not eligible for the program. While the policy has since expired, it offered permanent residency to 500 construction workers in the GTA, along with their family members.

New West Anchor reached out to CBSA about this case and was told information about the case couldn’t be provided due to privacy. The agency did tell us that it is legally required to remove anyone inadmissible to Canada.

“There are multiple steps built into the process to ensure procedural fairness and the CBSA only actions a removal order once all legal avenues of recourse have been exhausted,” the statement reads in part.

The family was supposed to be deported Friday, but that’s since been postponed as they wait for a final decision on their application. Chu says it appears their application is just taking too long to be looked at.

“When you’re left in limbo like that, it creates a level of complete instability, and not knowing what the next day will bring,” says Chu.

In the meantime, community members have been writing letters of support, hoping they will get to stay.

“[To be sent back] is terrifying,” says Zamorano Gomez. “We came here to save our lives, and my daughter’s life as well.”