On Friday, hours after CBC News reported that Nike Okafor’s family was facing separation as she and her oldest son were ordered back to Nigeria, the family’s lawyer received a letter from Canada Border Services Agency granting the request them for postponement. Okafor, 39, and her 21-year-old son Sydney, who was born in Nigeria, were preparing to say goodbye to her Canadian husband and two children who were born in that country. They were due to arrive at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on July 26. “Having considered your request, I am of the opinion that a postponement of the removal order is appropriate in the circumstances,” the CBSA letter states. However, he adds that the agency has an obligation to carry out deportations “as soon as possible”. Okafor and her son were in Canada for nearly two decades before she was ordered deported last May.
“My whole life is here”
All this time later, she never imagined that she would be taken from her husband and two of her children – all Canadian citizens – and forced back to the country she fled. Instead, the mother of three found herself once again fighting for her future, as well as the future of her son, who arrived with her at the age of two all those years ago. At the time she was pregnant with her second child. “If I have to go back, my life will be over,” Okafor said through tears. “I’m going to be separated from my husband, I’m going to be separated from my Canadian children, I don’t know how I can live.” “My whole life is here.” WATCHES | “It will end my life,” says mother facing deportation after 19 years in Canada:
‘Please let me stay here,’ says mother facing deportation after 19 years in Canada
After nearly two decades in Canada, Nike Okafor faces deportation to Nigeria despite having a Canadian husband and two Canadian children amid delays in processing her spousal sponsorship application. The mother of three talks to CBC Toronto about her desire to stay in the country. Okafor came to Canada as an asylum seeker in 2003. A Muslim, she had a son with a Christian man and says she feared the boy would be taken from her amid sectarian tensions in northern Nigeria. He left to secure a future for both of them, he told CBC News. Her refugee claim was rejected, but as Okafor appealed and tried to find a way to stay, life went on. She said she was told to stay in close contact with the CBSA over the years and she did. Meanwhile, she put herself through school, found a job as a personal support worker, had two Canadian-born children, met the man she would marry, and built a future she never thought possible back home. But that future was almost cut short.
“Very, very unfair”
Last April, Okafor and her son, who are currently in Canada without status, were suddenly ordered to be deported by the CBSA. This is despite her husband applying for spousal sponsorship with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) more than two years ago. WATCHES | This Canadian may have to say goodbye to his wife as he faces deportation:
This Canadian citizen may have to say goodbye to his wife as she faces deportation
Rotimi Odunaiya’s wife Nike Okafor is facing deportation to Nigeria after living in Canada for 19 years following delays in processing her husband’s application by the government. He talks to CBC Toronto about his message for the government. According to the federal government website, the average processing time for spousal sponsorships is 15 months. Okafor has already waited 28 months and says she would have been a permanent resident long ago if not for the delays. It’s a situation that Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, calls “very, very unfair.” “I think most Canadians, when they see these situations, think that this doesn’t make any sense, and of course, how is it that one part of the government is undermining the efforts of the other? Are they not talking to each other?” Dench said. “And basically the answer is, no… at least, not in individual cases.” Dench said that while a case like Okafor’s involves both CBSA and IRCC, the two departments operate under their specific mandates, the former focusing on law enforcement and the latter selecting and facilitating new residents. Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, calls the situation facing Okafor and her son “unjust.” (CBC) The IRCC website states that one of the ministry’s goals is “family reunification.” However, there does not appear to be a mechanism to prevent the CBSA from removing someone even if they have a permanent residence application related to the family class pending, as is the case with Okafor and her son. Dench said she hopes that will change soon, noting that the federal immigration minister’s mandate letter calls on him to consider expanding options for undocumented workers. “We hope that the government will see the opportunity to really settle a very large number of people and put an end to these kinds of contradictions,” he said.
Family reunification is a “pillar” of the immigration system
In a statement to CBC News, IRCC said Okafor and her son’s application for permanent residence is “in the queue for review” and will be considered with “objective review.” The department did not say how long the wait would be and said the time frames for processing some applications may vary due to the “unique nature” of each case. He also did not explain how someone who had a pending application could be ordered deported, or whether IRCC communicates with the CBSA to prevent such situations. “Family reunification is a fundamental pillar of our immigration system, and IRCC works to process applications for permanent residence quickly while conducting all verifications required by law,” the statement said. The CBSA told CBC News “the decision to remove someone from Canada is not taken lightly.” There are “a number of reasons” that might prevent a removal order from being carried out quickly, it said. Having a Canadian-born child does not prevent a person from being deported, but he added that “the CBSA always considers the best interests of the child before removing someone.” With time running out for Okafor and her family, Toronto-based immigration lawyer Vakkas Bilsin hopes the spousal sponsorship will be approved within the three months the family has been granted. (CBC) With time running out for Okafor and her family, Toronto-based immigration lawyer Vakkas Bilsin has brought the case to federal court and hopes the spousal sponsorship will be approved within three months of the family being sponsored. “Knowingly sending Ms. and Mr. Okafor to the inevitable, grave and irreparable harm that awaits them in Nigeria is callous and goes against every fiber on which Canada’s immigration and refugee system and Canadian society was built ,” Bilsin wrote in a recent application. to the CBSA to postpone their deportation. Speaking to CBC News, Bilsin said he saw no explanation as to why the CBSA would choose to remove the two all these years later. “I think she deserves to be in Canada. She may not have permanent residency, but she’s Canadian at heart.”
“We should start our lives over”
As their deportation date approached, Okafor’s oldest son tried to understand what it would mean to leave behind the only country he calls home. Enrolled in a sports management program at Humber College, he had no idea if he would be in Canada to see it. He was also worried about his younger siblings who look up to him. As their deportation date nears, Okafor’s Nigerian-born son, Sydney, now 21, is trying to figure out what it would mean to leave behind the only country he calls home. (Paul Borkwood/CBC) “If we had to leave, we would have to start our lives over,” he said. “It wouldn’t be right.” Okafor’s husband, Rotimi Odunaiya, a Canadian citizen she has been with for 10 years and married for about five, said the family is living one day at a time, hoping the government will step in to keep them together. “Someone who has already lived a lifetime here, up to two decades… contributing to society, working as a PSW – it’s no joke,” he said. “If someone says this can’t happen in Canada — yes, it does.” “We are a family,” he said. “Don’t separate us.” For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians – from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community – check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
