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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, June 13, 2013 | 6 Refugee family wants to call Canada home by Dominik Kurek Oakville Beaver Staff Spotlight "Connected to your Community" hile a local family failed to successfully tug the heartstrings of immigration of cials, a group of students and staff at T.A. Blakelock High School is hoping the deportation of one of their own can be stopped. "I'm perplexed with how we do things sometimes," said Blakelock construction teacher Leonardo Petti. "We have people who get away with murder and they can travel here ... and do whatever they want, and here we have some good people and we can't keep them in our country. It's frustrating." Petti is a teacher of Grade 12 student Juan Posada who is facing deportation to his native Colombia at the end of this school year along with his parents Juan Manuel Posada and Patricia Perez. The family, currently residing in Burlington, has lived in Canada for nearly three years. Prior to that, they lived in the U.S. for more than a decade prior, and have been away from Colombia for approximately 13 years. Claim was rejected Their refugee protection claim has been rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). A number of teachers and students from Blakelock wrote letters of support for the Posada family to submit with their refugee application. "We're supporting him and pleading with our government that we have a great young man here and I think a good family, that would be in uential in our community and it's a shame to send them back," said Petti of why he and others penned the letters. According to a notice of decision the family has received, the IRB's Refugee Protection Division W ing in Grade 10 while the family was still at the hotel. The deportation notice came earlier, but the family was able to stave off a return to Colombia arguing Juan should nish Grade 11, rather than to be shipped off mid-year. They were allowed to stay and eventually Juan began Grade 12. Once again, they were noti ed of pending deportation, but argued to stay to the end of the school year. Family has little hope Now, as Juan's Grade 12 school year draws to an end, the family will soon be meeting with immigration of cials, with little hope of being allowed to stay in Canada. The family has appealed the initial IRB decision, but lost the appeal. The family has also applied for a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) in the hope of remaining. The application was denied, so they appealed. They are still waiting on the results of that appeal. "The greatest fear for us is that they (FARC) will still be coming after us and they won't forgive the fact that we ran away from them and will probably kill my father and us," said Juan who translates for his parents, speaking of his family's fears of Colombia. "They're not people to say, `OK, ne you got away.' They want their money. They want what they need. They won't really forget," said Juan. Juan said the family is surprised by the denial of their refugee claim. "We knew this was a possibility because nothing in life is 100 per cent, but we didn't really think it would happen because so many people have come here," he said. Charles Hawkins, a spokesperson for the IRB, said he can't comment on an individual case. However, he did say a member of the Refugee Protection Division see School on p.7 NEIL OLIVER Vice ­President and Group Publisher The Posada family is facing deportation. Juan is a Grade 12 student at Thomas A. Blakelock where students and teachers are doing what they can to keep Juan and his parents, Patricia Perez and Juan Manuel Posada, in Canada. photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) has determined the family is not in need of protection and does not have credible claims. But the Posada family members say they fear what will happen if they go back to their country. Both Juan Manuel and Patricia held above-average jobs in Colombia's capital of Bogotá, working in management positions in a factory, they say. However, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) allegedly began harassing Juan Manuel, saying they wanted payments from the family in the equivalent of $1,500 per month -- a sum beyond their means. At rst, the family ignored the demands, but then Juan Manuel claimed he was abducted by the FARC, beaten, stabbed and left in a location unknown to him. FARC We're supporting him and pleading with our government that we have a great young man here and I think a good family, that would be in uential in our community, and it's a shame to send them back. Approximately a year later, Juan and Patricia left Colombia to be with Juan Manuel. They continued to live in Miami illegally for approximately a decade. Both parents had jobs and were once again doing well nancially. However, they say the social landscape changed and the U.S. government began cracking down on illegal immigrants, so they came to Canada seeking refugee asylum. Family landed in Oakville They were put in a hotel in Oakville when they arrived and received assistance from Ontario Works. Eventually, the family found an apartment in Burlington, while Juan continued attending Blakelock, where he started his school- Thomas A. Blakelock teacher Leonardo Petti, members told him to pay up or else, the family said. Juan Manuel ed the country, leaving his wife and then-young child behind, and went to Miami, Florida, where he lived illegally. Volume 51 | Number 70 467 Speers Road, Oakville ON (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS Regional General Manager Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Halton Region Editor in Chief ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor