Victory for Lucene Charles!

Lucene Charles, the St. Vincent native who has been battling deportation from Canada for some time now because of her failure to fill out the proper immigration papers years ago, has finally achieved victory.

The decision in principle to allow her to stay has been made, a decision that will be finalized after the proper criminal and medical checks have been completed. A woman who is a valued and contributing member of the Hamilton community, Charles has worked for many years at St Joseph's Hospital.

The fact that Canadian immigration officials have come to the right decision is a victory for everyone, considering the publicity surrounding her case, and the flurry of social activism and petitions that ensued, were very likely major influences in this decision.

It would seem that even the Harper regime is not totally immune to the public will.

The Latest on Lucene Charles

While I have written about her a couple of time in the past, the ordeal of Lucene Charles is not yet over.

Because she failed to complete the paperwork to achieve permanent residency status when she married a Canadian 15 years ago, the St. Vincent native, the mother of four children, three of whom were born in Canada, still faces deportation.

Charles is the kind of person we would hope to have in the neighborhood, a productive person who works for the betterment of her community. Employed full time as an assistant to an administrator at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, she was recently honoured as a YWCA Woman of Distinction in May for her extensive volunteer work.

Despite the fact that she would be an obvious asset to Canada, because of an oversight in paperwork, she faces being sent back to St. Vincent, an impoverished Caribbean island where three of her children, born in Canada, will go to for the first time if she cannot find adequate placement for them.

You can read the complete story here, and I will only offer the following observation:

I have come to the point in my life where I strongly believe that so many of the so-called rules (immigration-refugee rules, for example) should only be treated as broad guidelines, and that each situation has to be judged on its own merits, and by that I mean excluding considerations like whether a decision may set an undesirable precedent.

Decency and humanity, two of the surest criteria one can embrace, should and must be the only criteria.

Some Good News About Lucene Charles

Having attended a rally this afternoon in support of Lucene Charles, I was pleased to learn that things are starting to look up for her. Her deportation order, which was supposed to be put into effect on Monday, has received a six-month stay by a federal judge. You can read the full details here.

If you haven't already done so, please consider signing this petition as well.

The Sad Case of Lucene Charles

Because she failed to complete the paperwork to achieve permanent residency status when she married a Canadian 15 years ago, St. Vincent native Lucene Charles, the mother of four children, three of whom were born in Canada, faces deportation. Please watch the following video and consider signing this petition to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.