Court rejects Toronto family's bid for deportation extension

Last Updated: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 | 7:07 PM ET

CBC News

A Toronto family's request for a deportation extension has been denied by a Federal Court judge.

The Costa Rican family has been at the centre of a controversial case since immigration officials pulled two of the children from school and held them in a detention centre.

Kimberly, 15, and 14-year-old Gerald Lizano-Sossa, were eventually released and the family was granted a deportation extension so they could stay together until the two finished their school year.

The family's lawyer appeared in Federal Court Monday to request a stay on the deportation order until their application for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds could be heard.

Each of the five family members has a plane ticket booked to depart on Saturday, but by late Wednesday the family had not even begun to pack their belongings.

Kimberly told CBC earlier in the day that the family was quite anxious as they awaited the final decision, and spent a lot of time praying over the past few days.

On Wednesday, Gerald accompanied his dad to work at his construction site for the day, while Kimberly spent the day at home with her mother and 2½-year-old Canadian-born sister.

Last hope

As a last resort, supporters of the family are still pressing federal Immigration Minister Monte Solberg to step in.

A petition urging Solberg to use his ministerial discretion to grant permanent residency to the family circulated through government last week, and was submitted to Solberg's office on Friday.

Sima Zerehi, who runs a support group called No One is Illegal that's been helping the family, told CBC earlier in the day that the family remained optimistic.

"We believe that the family has a very, very strong case," she said.

One week ago, a minister's permit was granted to a woman who had been in church sanctuary for more than a year after a language commissioner pointed out her refugee hearing was conducted in English. The woman's first language is French.