As holidays near, Winnipeg-based Venezuelan family faces deportation in New Year

Ana Sofia RodriguesSuarez asked Santa for three things this Christmas:clothes, candy and to stay in Winnipeg instead of being deportedin the New Year.

"I really want to stay here," said Ana, 11, seated at a table withher colourful drawings and school work in the Westdale duplex the Venezuela-born sixth-grader shares with her parents, aunt and 86-year-old grandmother.

"I have a lot of friends and they will be very sad if I left them."

Watch Ana list Canadian things she'll miss:

'People are really nice to me here': Girl hopes to stay in Winnipeg as family faces deportation

6 years ago

Duration 0:33

Ana Sofia Rodrigues Suarez, 11, says her friends will be sad if she and her family leave and are unable to come back to Winnipeg.

After a series of applications to stay in Manitoba were dismissed, Ana's father, Luiz Antonio Rodrigues Bonito, said Canada Border Services Agency notified him this month he needed to buy plane tickets by Friday and be out of the country by Jan. 21.

"I feel sad, desperate, just because my daughter, you know, she is very happy here," said Luiz, 56, who works as a janitor with his wife, Sandra Suarez de Rodrigues, 50,at a local church.

"When I talk to her and say, 'You know, we must leave Canada,'she really, really cry a lot."

Following a traumatichome invasion and robbery in 2014, the family fled Venezuela for Winnipeg, where Luiz's brother's family has lived since the 1970s.

Luiz's mother, wife, daughter and sister, Cristina Rodrigues Bonito,left amid ongoing economic turmoil that spawned arefugee crisis that has seen over two million Venezuelans flee the South American country in recent years, according to estimates from the United Nations.

Economic turmoil

The family once ran a successful business that sold appliances to hotels and restaurants, but things changed in the mid-2000s, a few years after the late Hugo Chaveztook over as president of oil-rich Venezuela.

For a time, Chavez helped provide better health care and other opportunities for the poor and working classes, but his government also fixed prices for some foods and goods. By 2014, the price of oil had plummeted,and the government was left in serious debt.

Luiz said the Chavezgovernment took over his business and many others. Soon it became a challenge to access basic services orfind enough food at grocerystores, he said. Food shortages remain a problem in Venezuela.

Luiz and Sandra participated in an anti-government group and protests in Venezuela andwere taken into custody for a day.Luiz saidthey were made to sign a document statingthey would face indefinite jail time if they were arrested for similar protests again.

Two other cousins have been imprisoned in Venezuela in recent years for similar political activity, the family said.

Gun to the head

Then, in 2014, Cristina was approved as a permanent residentinManitoba through the Provincial Nominee Program. She planned to postpone her move to Winnipeg until Luiz and the rest of the family had their approvals as well, but the home invasion that year changed that.

"I was shocked. I was sleeping in my own bed and somebody covered my mouth and put a gun at the top of my head," Cristina said with a quiveringvoice, adding the robbers tied the family up in a room and threatened them.

"What I was most scared about was we were seeing their faces I said, 'They're going to kill us all,' because that's what happens when you see their faces."

The family dogs died in the days before and tests later showed they were likely poisoned, said Cristina.

It took a while for Ana to recover.

'I'm crushed'

Luizcame to Winnipeg on a tourist visa in 2015, as did his wife and daughter, after having his application to Canada's skilled labourer program dismissed. While here, he learned his application through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program was dismissed in 2015.

In 2017,Luiz and Sandra obtained work permitsand their volunteering at Oasis Church turned into paid jobs as custodians.

They've become valued employees and members of the church, said the church's community life pastorKelly Gray.

He said news of their deportation is devastating.

Watch Gray'sgoodbye message to the family:

'They're loved': Pastor says goodbye to Winnipeg family facing deportation

6 years ago

Duration 0:22

Oasis Church community life pastor Kelly Gray says he was crushed to learn Luiz Bonito and his family are being deported next month.

"I'm crushed. I I don't think there's ever a good time to get news like that. Christmas doesn't make it any easier," said Gray.

"It's such a friendly family, a loving family, and it's hard to see this cloud hanging over them. I know they're happy here."

Luiz'sapplication to stay in Manitoba on humanitarian and compassionate grounds was rejected in 2017, so his wife, Sandra, filed for refugee status on behalf of the familythat year. The refugee claim was denied and an attemptto appeal at thefederal court levelwas dismissed this fall.

Humanitarian case

They're now waiting for the results of a Novemberhumanitarian and compassionate case application theymade in the interest of Ana's well-being. The Canadian Human Rights International Organization, which advocates on behalf of thousands of refugees worldwide, is handling that plea and helping to get the Bonitos' story out.

"They believe they will be targeted upon their re-entry into Venezuela which will put not only their lives in danger, but it will also put their daughter's life in danger," reads a Dec. 12 letter addressed to Canadian Foreign Affairs MinisterChrystiaFreeland. "Ana's safety is their main priority."

Cristina and Luizwere born in Brazil, but also fear for their safety if they wereto move there.

Their late father, born in Portugal, arranged forLuizand Cristina to obtainpassports from that country as a contingency in case things in Canada fell through.

On Thursday night, Luizbought the family tickets to Madeira, Portugal, for Jan. 21. They don't know anyone there.

Although she can technically stay in Manitoba, Cristina is going to leave with her brother's family and mother.

'Respect our laws'

A Canada Border Services Agency spokesperson refused to comment on the case, but said decisions to remove people from Canada aren't taken lightly.

"Everyone ordered removed from Canada is entitled to due process," the spokesperson wrote in an email.

"Once due process is complete and individuals have exhausted all legal avenues, they are expected to respect our laws and leave Canada or be removed."

For Ana, she loves being close to her uncle's family in Winnipeg. Her three years in the cold Prairie cityhave been full of firsts. French is one of her favourite subjects, as are the people.

"It's fun. I can have a snowball fight and I can make, what are they called,snowmans," she said.

"People are really nice to me here and I like school a lot and I like everything about it."

Family plans to say goodbye to Winnipeg as deportation looms in New Year

6 years ago

Duration 3:23

As many Manitobans plan to come together for the holidays, one Winnipeg-based Venezuelan family is facing deportation in the New Year.