Latest news with #RosalindWanyeki
CTV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Community ‘grieving' after Toronto pastor and 2 daughters ordered deported to Kenya
Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki and her two children, six-year-old Pearl and nine-year-old Joylene, attended an immigration hearing at the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) office at Mississauga's International Centre on Aug. 6, where a judge denied the woman's request to defer their deportation order to Kenya. Despite prayers and impassioned pleas to government officials, a Toronto-based preacher and her two young daughters are being sent back to Kenya. Early Wednesday morning, Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki and her two children, six-year-old Pearl and nine-year-old Joylene, attended an immigration hearing at the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) office at Mississauga's International Centre, where a judge denied the woman's request to defer their deportation order. Wanyeki was seeking to push back her family's deportation from Canada until a decision was reached on their application for permanent residency here along with a risk assessment, which to date have all been denied, but are being appealed. The family was originally scheduled to be removed from the country earlier this year; however, a deferral was granted until June to allow the girls to finish the school year. Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki and her two children, six-year-old Pearl and nine-year-old Joylene On Aug. 6, Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki and her two children, six-year-old Pearl and nine-year-old Joylene, attended an immigration hearing at the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) office at Mississauga's International Centre, where a judge denied the woman's request to defer their deportation order to Kenya. As a result of Wednesday's hearing, an order was issued for their deportation on Thursday. Wanyeki and her children are being detained by CBSA until their departure. Documents obtained by CTV News show tickets that have been booked for the family on Ethiopian Airlines. Their flight to Nairobi via Addis Ababa is scheduled to leave Pearson International Airport at 10:45 a.m. CTV News Toronto briefly spoke to Wanyeki on the phone earlier today from inside the immigration detention centre near Rexdale Boulevard. She said her children are frightened, scared, and don't understand what is happening, adding that they also do not have any memories of life in Kenya, nor any connection to the East African nation. 'At first, (my daughters) started crying immediately. They don't know why they have to leave the city so I had to calm them down,' she told CTV News Toronto's John Musselman. Wanyeki, daughters came to Canada as refugees in 2020 Wanyeki, who is known to many in the community as Reverend Hadassah came to Canada, along with her two children – who were four and 8 months old at that time – in 2020 as refugees. She said they were forced to flee Kenya as they faced persecution from a powerful church leader in Nairobi. Over the past five years, the family has created a life in Toronto with Wanyeki founding and serving as the senior pastor of North York's Prayer Reign International Church in Canada. Pearl and Joylene, meanwhile, have settled in at West Hill Public School in Scarborough and are involved in basketball at West Hill Gospel Hall and participate in various church programs. Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki, Pearl and Joylene Toronto-based Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki with her daughters Pearl and Joylene. (Supplied) Supporter says deportation process 'very unfair' Speaking with CTV News Toronto outside the CBSA office prior to Wanyeki's hearing, Diana Da Silva, an organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said Canada's deportation process is 'very unfair.' 'Rosalind still has (immigration) applications going, but these applications that are currently in place do not stop a deportation. That is systematically designed, in a way, to kick out our people, our communities before justice is made,' she said, adding that Wanyeki is 'feeling very anxious, scared, worried and uncertain' about her future. 'She is here, like many other refugees, because her life is being persecuted. She fled persecution because of a very powerful church leader back home. (Rosalind) is still very much at risk and it's important that she be able to get safety and protection that Canada promised her.' Da Silva said the community is 'grieving' after learning that Wanyeki and her kids are being sent back to Kenya. 'We're calling on the immigration minister and the public safety minister to step in. This is the only thing that can be done now,' she said. Diana Da Silva, an organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change Diana Da Silva, an organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, speaks with CTV News Toronto on Aug. 6. CTV News Toronto reached out to both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as well as CBSA, however they both said they wouldn't speak to specific cases citing privacy. 'We require written consent from individuals before we can disclose information about their cases to the media.' In a statement, a CBSA spokesperson said it 'carries out removals based on a risk-management regime.' 'There are multiple steps built into the process to ensure procedural fairness and the CBSA only actions a removal order once all legal avenues of recourse that can stay a removal have been exhausted,' they wrote in an email. Eunice Mbugua Eunice Mbugua is a mobilizer in the GTA's Kenyan and East African community as well as a friend of the Wanyeki family. Eunice Mbugua, a community mobilizer, attended an emergency prayer service for Wanyeki and her children over the weekend in North York. 'So what is being taken away from the Kenyan and the broader African community at large is actually a support system that actually is very needed,' she said at that time. Mbugua also came down to the CDSA office on Wednesday morning to support the family. 'They are not forgetting the trauma itself, what (Rosalind is) dealing with right now,' she said. 'The children, themselves, the trauma they're dealing with right now and the fragility of their age as well that they have to kind of process this all by themselves. They don't even know what's going on but they knew they are at risk.' Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki, who is facing deportation to Kenya with her two young daughters, speaks during an emergency service on Aug. 3. According to data on the CBSA website, on average 45 people are deported daily from Canada. With files from CTV News Toronto's John Musselman and Rahim Ladhani
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
‘I don't want to go back': Toronto pastor and her 2 daughters face deportation to Kenya
A Toronto faith leader and her two young daughters are pleading for help as they face deportation. Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki, who is known to many in the community as Rev. Hadassah, came to Canada in 2020 as a refugee with her now six-year-old daughter Pearl and nine-year-old daughter, Joylene. Over the last five and a half years the family has created a life in Toronto. Wanyeki leads a ministry while her children attend Scarborough's West Hill Public School. However, both their refugee claim as well as application for permanent residency under humanitarian and compassionate grounds have been denied. And while an appeal is underway, it won't stop the trio from being deported on Aug. 7. The family was originally scheduled to be removed from Canada earlier this year, however, that order was deferred to allow the kids to finish the school year. 'I have tried to reach for help from my MP. I'm getting opposition. I'm getting responses that cannot help me right now and I need help,' a tearful Wanyeki told CTV News Toronto on Sunday. Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki, who is facing deportation to Kenya with her two young daughters, speaks during an emergency service on Aug. 3. Wanyeki, who is the founder and senior pastor of North York's Prayer Reign International Church in Canada, says she fears she and her girls will be harmed if they're sent back to Kenya. She told CTV News Toronto that they were forced to flee their homeland to escape persecution from a powerful church leader in Nairobi. 'I've served the community for those five years (here in Canada) and I pray to be safe,' Wanyeki told CTV News Toronto. Eldest daughter Joylene said the thought of being forced to leave their home makes her 'sad.' 'I don't want to go back because I like staying in Canada,' she said. Rev. Rosalind Wenyaki during emergency service Aug. 3 Rev. Rosalind Wanyeki, who along with her two young daughters is facing deportation to Kenya on Aug. 7, speaks during an emergency service on Aug. 3. On Sunday, members of Toronto's Kenya and East African faith communities held an emergency service and news conference at North York's Royal Chapel during which they prayed for a miracle for the pastor and her two children and called on the federal government to intervene in this case. Those in the community say Wanyeki is a contributing member of society, who provides emotional support for families, connects newcomers with resources and is part of a network on Kenyan-Canadian pastors as well as several grassroots and community organizations. Eunice Mbugua, a community mobilizer, said Rev. Hadassah is someone who provides culturally appropriate supports for people facing settlement challenges. 'So what is being taken away from the Kenyan and the broader African community at large is actually a support system that actually is very needed,' she said. Eunice Mbugua, Rev. Rosalind Wenyeki Community mobilizer Eunice Mbugua, right, hugs Rev. Rosalind Wenyeki. The Toronto pastor and her two young daughters are facing deportation to Kenya on Aug. 7. Local faith leaders are also calling on the Canadian government to step in and cancel or at least delay the family's deportation order. 'We are asking the government, across the board. They are already here. They are taxpayers. They are people who are contributing to the society,' Rev. John Munywoki said. Mbugua said people who are returned home can face danger. 'The situations where you hear someone has been deported - even they just disappear or the kid is just abducted. So for her, being here is a safety net,' Mbugua said. CTV News Toronto has reached out to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for comment, but we have yet to hear back. With files from CTV News Toronto's Rahim Ladhani
