Mexican woman in Montreal facing deportation to remain in Canada
A Montreal woman facing deportation will get to stay in Canada for at least two more years.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has stayed Sheila Sedinger Ayala's removal order.
"It feels amazing," Sedinger Ayala told CBC news. "Now I can concentrate on celebrating my daughter's birthday which is this Saturday, the day I was going to be deported."
Sedinger Ayala, 27, was initially ordered to be deported back to Mexico after her refugee claim sponsor — her husband — was convicted of a criminal offence.
Her two Canadian-born children would have stayed behind in Canada if the deportation went ahead.
She's currently in custody proceedings for the children.
The decision comes one day after an immigrant rights group hosted a news conference for Sedinger Ayala on Sunday.
With her fiancé by her side, Sedinger Ayala sobbed while she explained what had happened to her and why she should be granted temporary residency to allow her to stay in Canada while she sorts out her affairs.
Sedinger Ayala said she moved to Montreal from Mexico City in 2005, fleeing from a violent ex-boyfriend.
She had one child within a year of arriving in Canada — a product of gang rape while in Mexico, said Sedinger Ayala's lawyer Angela Potvin.
She later met and married a man in Montreal with whom she had another child. She said he sponsored her bid for permanent residency and in 2008, the federal and provincial governments accepted her sponsorship application.
However, Potvin said the sponsor was found guilty of physical assault during the course of Sedinger Ayala's sponsorship application, which in turn made him ineligible to sponsor her. She said the conviction cancelled her permanent residency bid.
