South Okanagan family avoids deportation with ‘indefinite’ delay – Okanagan | 24CA News
For an immigrant household from Penticton, what started as per week of concern and uncertainty has became a brand new lease on life of their adopted homeland.
After getting a one-week delay on a June 13 deportation order, Hardeep Singh Chahal, his spouse Kamaldeep Kaur and three-year-old daughter Keerat Kaur have been knowledgeable by the federal government on Tuesday that the delay is now “indefinite.”
In addition, they’ve been invited to reapply for his or her cancelled work visas.
“I just feel so good now. For the last few days there was just so much going through our minds, just so little hope and now this,” stated Kamaldeep by her tears of pleasure in a phone interview from the Surrey motel the place they’ve been staying whereas ready for the flight out.
“We were talking in the morning and if they had not called us, we would have been on an airplane now and leaving our home.
“For our future, I have so many positive things to think about. I now have this hope that we will be able to stay. That this will be our home and our children’s home forever.”
Keerat was born in Canada and Kamaldeep is anticipating their second youngster.
Especially overwhelming for the household was the neighborhood’s response to their state of affairs after the story first appeared.
“I just can’t understand how I can say thanks to everybody who has helped us stay here, I just can’t explain it,” stated Kamaldeep. “For whoever helped us to everybody who did, thank you so much. We will never forget this help.”
After the story appeared in The Herald and subsequently different publications by the Local Journalism Initiative program, greater than 100 emails have been acquired and forwarded by Member of Parliament Richard Cannings’ workplace to the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
“I think the community support made a difference,” Cannings stated Tuesday in a telephone interview from Ottawa.
“I’m not surprised at all about that support. I think that’s an indication that they have all that support and with that support comes hope.”
Jula Sukumar-Dyer, Cannings’ constituent assistant who has labored tirelessly on the matter agreed.
“I feel it’s all the neighborhood letters and the case that we made for the household is tremendous necessary and caught their (authorities) consideration.
“There was a really good reason for us and the community to advocate and I’m just so happy the government was able to see the reasons through our eyes.”
While there may be nonetheless a course of they’ll must undergo to get their Canadian citizenship, in line with Sukumar-Dyer, their future seems vibrant.
“We’re still waiting for some more news, but things are moving very quickly and moving in a positive direction,” she stated. “Honestly, deportations are really hard to turn around, but I think it can happen.”
Another one who could be very pleased with Tuesday’s news is Hardeep’s former employer and the person who introduced the household’s plight to public consideration, Pierre Levesque.
“We’re all just so happy, I feel like a million bucks,” stated Levesque.
“It is heartwarming for me. I mean I get to keep a very talented tractor operator, but I guess for me it goes a little deeper than that.”
The household was returning dwelling to Penticton on Tuesday night and was planning to satisfy with officers of town’s Sikh Temple who additionally stepped as much as assist after studying about their state of affairs.
“The family is not finished with this yet and they still have to carry on with the process and so if they need help with that one we will,” stated Temple member Jesse Garcha. “Anything we can do to help the couple we will.”
© 2023 Penticton Herald
