Statement from the WE ARE JOSE CAMPAIGN launched January 16, 2011 Today, We Are Jose. José Figueroa could be any one of us. He has lived happily in his Langley, BC, community, just outside Vancouver, for over 13 years with his wife, Ivannia, and three Canadian children. As they built new lives after fleeing danger in El Salvador, they worked hard and became leading members of their local Lutheran church. Then, out of the blue, last May, 2010, José and his wife were told they were no longer welcome in Canada and were going to be deported. The reason? As a university student more than 20 years ago, José was a member of a student group associated with the Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation, or FMLN, the broad coalition of opposition forces fighting the ruthless Salvadorean government of the time.

Indeed, supporting the FMLN was the conscious and courageous choice of countless Salvadoreans trying to free themselves from the tyranny of a Salvadorean state that targeted with impunity priests, nuns, farmers, teachers, workers, professors, students, indeed, anyone opposed to its systematic human rights violations. And the international community recognized Salvadoreans’ right to defend themselves against oppression. The FMLN was widely acknowledged as a legitimate and representative opposition organization and as a vital element to bringing democracy to El Salvador. After signing UN-sponsored peace accords with the Salvadorean government 19 years ago (peace accords that Canada explicitly supported), the FMLN went on to become a leading political party and won the presidency in El Salvador in 2009. The Canadian government recognized that election as free and fair and even sent a representative, then Minister of State of Foreign Affairs for the Americas and now Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent, to President Mauricio Funes’ inauguration.

Still, Canadian border and immigration authorities consider José a threat to Canadian security because of his links to the current democratically elected and internationally recognized governing party of El Salvador, the FMLN. And this is not a case of a single immigration officer making a bad decision. Instead, we have a number of cases where members of the FMLN are referred to "admissibility hearings" based solely on their membership in the FMLN. Cases like that of Jose Figueroa, where the immigration court determines that he has not committed any criminal act but but he must be denied simply because he was a member of the FMLN in the past. It simply doesn’t make sense and we simply want our government to realize as much. We believe that this has occurred to Jose and to other past members of the FMLN due to a mistaken understanding by the Canadian government to the past conflict in El Salvador and this mistake must be fixed immediately. José, Ivannia, and their three Canadian children are no threats to Canada. On the contrary, they are exctly the kind of people who have built this great country. Their fate lies in the hands of Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews. Supporters of the WE ARE JOSE campaign demand that Minister Toews immediately grant José Figueroa an exemption that declares him no threat to national security and that allows the Figueroa family to continue leading productive lives in Canada. We further demand that he ensure that the FMLN and its many supporters are no longer mischaracterized as threats by Canadian authorities.

Facts & Chronology of Events in the Case & Deportation Order of JOSE FIGUEROA

1. Jose Figueroa was born in El Salvador, Jose Figueroa comes from a family of 5 sisters and 3 brothers.

2. On 1985, Jose goes to the University of El Salvador, belongs to the student union of his faculty. During this time, El Salvador was still immersed in the civil war that lasted 12 years.

3. The student union at the university were generally identified as being sympathizer with FMLN.

4. 1992: The Peace Agreement between the FMLN and the government were signed in Chapultepec, Mexico.

5. 1997: Jose Figueroa and wife arrive at the border of Canada and made a refugee claim at CIC Douglas by the end of April 1997. At that time Jose disclosed his membership with the student union, and there was no issue that Jose had been associated with the opposition movement.

6. May 6, 1997: Jose Figueroa and wife, were found eligible to have their refugee claim heard by the Immigration Board, and were allowed into Canada for further investigation.

7. August 1997: Ivan Figueroa is born 8. October 1999 Immigration Board hears the refugee claim. 9. May 2000: Refugee claim is denied, process of appeals is initiated. 10. July 2002: An application for H&C, (humanitarian and compassionate) as well as an

application for PRRA (Permanent resident) is filed, Ivan Figueroa is diagnosed with autism. 11. March 2004 Esmeralda Figueroa is born. May 12. 2004: The H&C application is approved in principle by a PRAA Officer. The H&C

application became the application for permanent residence. [Note: Jose and his family were told that having The H&C approved in principle meant that they were going to be approved for permanent resident status.]

13. May 2007: Ruby Figueroa is born. 14. July 2009: Officer Hindson a Canadian Border Services Agent (CBSA), requests an interview

with Jose Figueroa. 15. December 2009: Jose Figueroa receives a notice to appear for an admissibility hearing with

the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). 16. January 25, 2010: An IRB pre-hearing conference held before adjudicator Mark Tessler. 17. April 14 & 19, 2010: IRB admissibility hearings were held presided by Otto Nupponen. 18. May, 2010 Jose visits the El Salvador consulate to request assistance with the case and is

informed they will send his file to the El Salvador government for review. 19. May 5, 2010: The IRB Hearing Adjudicator renders decision on the admissibility hearing and

issues a deportation order against Jose Figueroa. In the case of Jose Figueroa the court determined that there was no evidence he committed any objectionable activity or harm saying that he would be deported simply for "for being a member of a particular organization, [FMLN] ... that is, an organization that practices terrorism "(IRB) 10.05.2010 This decision was based on evidence presented by the Minister of Public Safety representative during the IRB hearing claiming that the FMLN was considered to have committed acts of terrorism during the conflict due to the killings of some mayors.

20. May 16, 2010: Case is publicly known. Academics and politicians speak out in outrage about the decision in the news and discuss how ridiculous it is to refer to persons associated with the FMLN, a legitimate opposition movement, and now the democratically elected government of El Salvador, as terrorists.

21. May 20 2010: Judicial Review application was filed 15 days after the deportation order was issued.

22. May 31, 2010: Minister had 10 days after the JR had been served, we received notice that the minister is responding to the JR application.

23. June 21, 2010: We had 30 days after the JR was served to present arguments and submitted the JR.

24. The application for Judicial review was denied. No reasons given. 25. September 13, 2011, Vancouver, BC, Professors Maxwell Cameron and Jerry Spiegel send

letters requesting assistance, regarding the case, to the El Salvador government officials and members of the FMLN leadership, Medoro Gonzalz, FMLN, copies to Blanca Flor Bonilla; and to Juan Jose Garcia, Vice Minister of Salvadorans Living Abroad with copies sent to Huge Martinez Minister for External Relations.

26. October 2010 a secton 34 Application for Exemption is submitted by Jose’s lawyer Peter Edelmann, requesting the Minister of Public Safety grant Jose an exemption based on that he is not a security risk and that past association with the FMLN should not make him a security risk. Included in that application submitted to the minister are petitions signed by over 1200 citizens and members of the Canadian government across Canada stating support for Jose and that the FMLN; letters from community groups, citizens, Members of Parliament, academics, Latin American groups including the Salvadoran Association of Ottawa and Barrio Nuevo a Toronto based group; a large number of news articles indicating support from the community and voicing outrage about the decision; expert evidence regarding the context of the war to help explain why members of the FMLN should not be referred to as terrorists; supporting documents indicating Jose and his families positive ties to the community, as well as supporting documents indicating Jose Ivan Autism disorder.

27. October 2010 letters were sent to the El Salvador government and FMLN representatives requesting assistance with Jose’s case and diplomatic intervention to correct the miscategorization of the FMLN by Canadian immigration authorities. There has been no response from the El Salvador government or El Salvador consulate.

28. January 16, 2011 the launch of the WE ARE JOSE campaign with events all across Canada and in El Salvador to ask the Canadian government to reverse the deportation order for Jose Figueroa immediately and to seize referring to the FMLN as a terrorist organization. Numerous organizations and FMLN members send messages of endorsement for the campaign.

29. April 2011, Juan Garcia Minister for Salvadorans Living Abroad speaks publicly at an event in Toronto, stating that the El Salvador government will not intervene in this case claiming it is not an issue that impacts the rights of Salvadorans. Jose Figueroa is at the event and makes a vocal protest of the Minister’s opinions stating that this issue is a grave concern to Jose and all El Salvadorans.

30. May 2011 documents obtained from the Ministry of Public Safety indicate that it takes 7-9 years for a decision for an application for exemption and the majority of requests are denied.

31. September 2011 the WE ARE JOSE campaign continues to request for the Minister of Public Safety to reverse the decision immediately and to request for the El Salvador government’s diplomatic intervention to correct the miscategorization of FMLN members.

SEE WWW.WEAREJOSE.COM for more information and ways you can help

Other links of interest www.helpjose.blogspot.com http://josefigueroaimmigrationordeal.blogspot.com/ http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/09/20/OttawasFlawedMemory/

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