Ottawa rules mom must leave
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Immigration Reporter
The rules say Kim Suk Yeung has to be deported, the public safety minister declared yesterday.
Kim and her 8-year-old daughter Eugene, who have inspired a passionate community campaign to keep them here, will leave on a Korean Air flight Saturday night from Pearson International Airport.
Although Eugene is a Canadian citizen, she is going to South Korea with her mother.
"It's the responsibility of the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) to enforce the law," Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said yesterday through spokesperson Christopher McCluskey.
"When there is a determination that someone is in Canada illegally by the courts and the Immigration (and) Refugee Board, it is the responsibility of the CBSA to enforce these decisions and ensure their removal."
Kim lost her refugee appeal before the board after five years and $5,000 in legal fees. Once an appeal is lost, Canada Border Services takes over and issues a removal order.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney cannot stop a removal order, said spokesperson Karen Shadd.
Van Loan has the discretion, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, to intervene "if the minister is of the opinion that it is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected."
Border Services could also have delayed their deportation until the end of Eugene's school year.
Friends and supporters kept up their campaign yesterday, phoning and emailing ministers' offices. Mothers and children planned a rally for them outside the detention centre this morning.
Kim had come to Canada on a visitor's visa in 2000. She has been working in a drycleaner's in the Davenport neighbourhood where Eugene was a Grade 2 student at Dovercourt Jr. Public School.
Yesterday, the 40-year-old mother was all smiles as she held her daughter behind the glass partition at the immigration holding centre on Rexdale Blvd. It was the first time they'd been together since February. "We didn't say much, just hugged," Eugene said of their reunion last night.
The girl showed her mother dance steps she learned. Kim drilled her daughter on Korean grammar.
What will Eugene remember about Canada? "That I have a lot of friends and my friend Camille."
Camille's mother and aunt, Marie and Kathleen Foley, have led the campaign to help the Kims.
Will she come back to the country where she won a citizenship award?
Maybe, she said, if she can bring her mother.
The Prime Minister could pardon her yet.
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Immigration Reporter
The rules say Kim Suk Yeung has to be deported, the public safety minister declared yesterday.
Kim and her 8-year-old daughter Eugene, who have inspired a passionate community campaign to keep them here, will leave on a Korean Air flight Saturday night from Pearson International Airport.
Although Eugene is a Canadian citizen, she is going to South Korea with her mother.
"It's the responsibility of the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) to enforce the law," Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said yesterday through spokesperson Christopher McCluskey.
"When there is a determination that someone is in Canada illegally by the courts and the Immigration (and) Refugee Board, it is the responsibility of the CBSA to enforce these decisions and ensure their removal."
Kim lost her refugee appeal before the board after five years and $5,000 in legal fees. Once an appeal is lost, Canada Border Services takes over and issues a removal order.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney cannot stop a removal order, said spokesperson Karen Shadd.
Van Loan has the discretion, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, to intervene "if the minister is of the opinion that it is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected."
Border Services could also have delayed their deportation until the end of Eugene's school year.
Friends and supporters kept up their campaign yesterday, phoning and emailing ministers' offices. Mothers and children planned a rally for them outside the detention centre this morning.
Kim had come to Canada on a visitor's visa in 2000. She has been working in a drycleaner's in the Davenport neighbourhood where Eugene was a Grade 2 student at Dovercourt Jr. Public School.
Yesterday, the 40-year-old mother was all smiles as she held her daughter behind the glass partition at the immigration holding centre on Rexdale Blvd. It was the first time they'd been together since February. "We didn't say much, just hugged," Eugene said of their reunion last night.
The girl showed her mother dance steps she learned. Kim drilled her daughter on Korean grammar.
What will Eugene remember about Canada? "That I have a lot of friends and my friend Camille."
Camille's mother and aunt, Marie and Kathleen Foley, have led the campaign to help the Kims.
Will she come back to the country where she won a citizenship award?
Maybe, she said, if she can bring her mother.
The Prime Minister could pardon her yet.
