A local MP is speaking out in support of a Langley family’s emotional plea to have a deportation order reversed.
Jose Figueroa and his wife moved to Canada from El Salvador 16 years ago. The couple and their three children now live in Langley, but the federal government has ordered Figueroa to be deported over grounds the NDP says is baseless.
Two years ago, Figueroa was denied permanent residency because in the 1980s he was a student member of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, an organization that was attempting to overthrow a violent military dictatorship in El Salvador.
The FMLN is now the democratically elected government in El Salvador, but Canada still classifies it as a terrorist organization.
Figueroa denies he took part in any terrorist activity and only participated in peaceful protests while in college.
“If you think fighting for social justice is a terrorist activity, then I did, but the government was using death squads against the population. It can’t be considered a terrorist activity,” Figueroa said.
NDP MP Don Davies is calling on the Canadian government to clarify its position on the FMLN and grant Figueroa a visa.
“The contradiction is that Canada now recognizes the FMLN as the democratically elected government of El Salvador, and the Canadian government routinely issues visas to representatives of the Salvadoran government who were and are members of the FMLN,” Davies said at a gathering in support of Figueroa at the Canada Border Services Agency in Vancouver Friday.
UBC political science professor Dr. Max Cameron said there is no evidence to suggest Figueroa committed any terrorist acts.
“He was a student recruiter for the organization,” he said. “There is no suggestion that he committed any acts of violence, he was not a combatant. What he did was a great risk to himself to oppose the oppression and help free his country from a horrible dictatorship.”
The Figueroa family lives in fear they could be torn apart at any time.
Figueroa is appealing to the federal courts to ask the Minister of Public Safety to explain why the government considers him a security threat to a country he has called home for the last 16 years.
“We know that Jose and his family are wonderful people who have fully integrated into our community. We know that his children are Canadian citizens and his wife has been allowed to apply for permanent residency,” Davies said.
With files from Grace Ke
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