Hey everyone, I know both Zain & his wife, Sophia. We all worked together for #SaveOldGrowth & #StopEcocide work here in #BritishColumbia. What's happened to Zain is unjust & I'm asking you all to please read this whole post & sign the #petition. Thanks for your time & help. Please boost for wider reach.
* Last week, Prime Minister #MarkCarney revealed Lena Metledge Diab will serve as Canada’s new Immigration Minister.
The first thing Diab should do as Minister is bring #ClimateActivist Zain Haq back to Canada by greenlighting his Temporary Residence Permit that has been processing since January.
Zain was deported to Pakistan in January for climate activism that resulted in low-level mischief charges. He’d been living in Canada his entire adult life, and with his Canadian wife, Sophia Papp, since 2023.
Sophia has been given the devastating choice to remain in Canada without her spouse or relocate to #Pakistan , where she doesn’t speak the language and faces significant barriers to her health and wellbeing.
A mere 48 hours before Zain was deported, he and Sophia’s Spousal Sponsorship application was rejected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) without substantive explanation.
The couple’s lawyer, Randall Cohn, has stated that this eleventh-hour rejection is likely illegal. It also denied Zain and Sophia’s right to procedural fairness, since they didn’t have time to access the appeal process enshrined in the #BillOfRights.
Zain and Sophia’s situation is reminiscent of the #unethical treatment of many #migrants in the U.S.
#IRCC ’s last minute rejection of a young couple’s Sponsorship Application without substantive reason should raise alarm bells for anyone of conscience, but especially for those with a #legal background – and before getting into #politics , Minister Diab was a #lawyer in Halifax. That’s why we have to get Zain’s file on her desk as soon as possible. *
#BCpoli #CDNpoli #Activists #SocialJustice #EcoJustice #Environmentalist #Injustice #Canada #EndFossilFuels #PowerToThePeoples #PleaseHelp #DogwoodBC #Grassroots #Resistance #Deportation #CanadianImmigration #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis #DueProcess
