Whitehorse family facing deportation must leave toddler or forfeit medical care

WATCH: A Whitehorse family faces an agonizing decision. The couple has a three-year-old son born in Canada with special needs…and they’re facing deportation. Jeremy Hunka reports. 

VANCOUVER – A family from Whitehorse is facing deportation and they need to make a decision – either separate from their toddler or forfeit medical care.

Sergio Rojas is from Mexico and Linda Martinez is from Nicaragua. They have a seven-year-old son born outside of Canada, but their youngest, Jonathan, was born in the Yukon.

He has a rare medical condition that requires constant care. The three-year-old suffers from skull deformation and a neck-muscle disorder.

After being here for seven years, the couple applied for residency in Canada but were denied. They have now been told they must leave the country by March 4. They are concerned Jonathan will not receive proper medical care outside of Canada and have reportedly been told so by doctors.

The family has been told they can leave Jonathan in Canada but they cannot stay here.

“Canada, I was thinking was the best future for us. Now Canada has destroyed our hearts,” says Sergio Rojas, who arrived at YVR on Wednesday evening.

“I worry. I worry for my son,” said Martinez, before breaking down in tears.

“I feel bad, very bad. My son needs health care.”

“The choice being a pretty difficult one because they want the child with them but if they were to go to Mexico they would not receive the same level of care and therapy that Jonathan requires,” said Jan Stick, NDP health and social service critic in Yukon.

She said they have not had any response from immigration, but she hopes the Immigration Minister will review the file and allow the family to stay in Canada.

“I know it’s a cruel decision for any parent to have to face,” said Stick.

WATCH:  Aaron McArthur spoke to Jan Stick, NDP health and social service critic in Yukon. She calls their story a human tragedy.

Rojas and his older son have now travelled to Vancouver to go to the Mexican consulate and meet with immigration officers.

The community in Whitehorse has rallied around the family and have started an online petition to keep them in the country.

“The response has been very positive,” said Stick.

At this point, the family intends to take Jonathan with them when they have to leave the country.

“I’m not sure there is anything else that can be done,” said Stick. “They’ve appealed on compassionate grounds and hopefully that will be enough.”

Sergio and his family are hoping it will be.

“I want to tell them to do something for a Canadian child,” he says.

“Not for me, for him. He has the same rights they have.”