Scammer
Banned
Students at a high school in Toronto are rallying around a classmate who faces deportation.
Daniel Garcia was supposed to spend Christmas with his girlfriend and her family. Instead, the 18-year-old has spent the past few days in an immigration detention centre.
Police arrested Garcia on Thursday night and he could be deported within days, friends said.
Dozens of students, teachers and community workers gathered at a Toronto church on Christmas Day to call on the federal government to allow Garcia to stay in Canada.
Garcia, a student at Parkdale Collegiate Institute in the city's west end, arrived from Mexico with his sister in 2007. Both filed for refugee status, saying they faced persecution and death in their homeland, but their refugee claims were rejected.
"It makes me so sad because if he gets deported, I never will see him again," his girlfriend, Martina K., said Saturday. She asked not to be identified by her full name since her immigration status is also not certain.
Supporters of Garcia, who describe him as an exemplary student and a caring friend, said they're worried he will be quietly deported during the holidays, before he has a chance to appeal the decision on his refugee claim.
The government "has a nasty habit of enforcing deportation orders around Christmastime when they know people can't access the courts," said Karin Baqi, a lawyer who has spoken to Garcia since his arrest but is not retained by him.
"We want to make sure he doesn't get removed in the cover of the night."
Hillel Heinstein, one of Garcia's teachers, said the teen is particularly vulnerable because he hasn't been able to get proper legal assistance. Heinstein said Garcia's deportation would be "a tremendous blow" to the school and to the community.
Baqi said the teen's pre-removal risk assessment, which evaluates the danger a person will face if deported, was filled out incorrectly after his previous attorney died.
Garcia said in a statement he hadn't received a decision on that application when he was stopped by police, forced to produce ID and turned over to immigration officers on Thursday.
Daniel Garcia was supposed to spend Christmas with his girlfriend and her family. Instead, the 18-year-old has spent the past few days in an immigration detention centre.
Police arrested Garcia on Thursday night and he could be deported within days, friends said.
Dozens of students, teachers and community workers gathered at a Toronto church on Christmas Day to call on the federal government to allow Garcia to stay in Canada.
Garcia, a student at Parkdale Collegiate Institute in the city's west end, arrived from Mexico with his sister in 2007. Both filed for refugee status, saying they faced persecution and death in their homeland, but their refugee claims were rejected.
"It makes me so sad because if he gets deported, I never will see him again," his girlfriend, Martina K., said Saturday. She asked not to be identified by her full name since her immigration status is also not certain.
Supporters of Garcia, who describe him as an exemplary student and a caring friend, said they're worried he will be quietly deported during the holidays, before he has a chance to appeal the decision on his refugee claim.
The government "has a nasty habit of enforcing deportation orders around Christmastime when they know people can't access the courts," said Karin Baqi, a lawyer who has spoken to Garcia since his arrest but is not retained by him.
"We want to make sure he doesn't get removed in the cover of the night."
Hillel Heinstein, one of Garcia's teachers, said the teen is particularly vulnerable because he hasn't been able to get proper legal assistance. Heinstein said Garcia's deportation would be "a tremendous blow" to the school and to the community.
Baqi said the teen's pre-removal risk assessment, which evaluates the danger a person will face if deported, was filled out incorrectly after his previous attorney died.
Garcia said in a statement he hadn't received a decision on that application when he was stopped by police, forced to produce ID and turned over to immigration officers on Thursday.
