Like the headline says, it’s a national day of action for the two University of Regina students who have been in hiding for more than a year after a deportation order. Victoria Ordu and Favour Amadi were ordered deported after they worked a few shifts at WalMart in violation of rules. It’s stoopid. From Rabble:
This Monday, August 12, 2013, has been declared a National Day of Action for two University of Regina students who have been hiding in sanctuary for nearly 14 months. All eyes will be on the new Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Chris Alexander, asking him to bring about a common sense outcome in the case involving two young women who made the honest mistake of working at Walmart for two weeks.
Working at Walmart was a violation of their permits (they were only authorized to work on campus) and although Canadian Border Services Agency officers had discretionary power throughout the course of their investigation they chose to pursue the stiffest sanction possible: deportation. It is unclear why CBSA choose the toughest penalty; it also remains unclear if the employer, Walmart, was ever sanctioned for giving employment to the two young women.
On the night of June 18, 2012 Victoria Ordu and Favour Amadi made a painful choice to seek sanctuary to avoid their scheduled deportation the following morning. The deportation would ban them from Canada for at least one year. Both believed there was not much of a chance they would be able to return to Canada with their scholarships following this exclusion. Desperate to return home with completed degrees, and with nearly three years of their education complete, they made a difficult choice: seek sanctuary and appeal to the federal government. They have been hiding in church basements since under Canada-wide warrant and deportation orders.
For information on what you can do to help, go to the event’s Facebook page.
