Deportation fears for asylum-seeking front-line workers in Canada

MONTREAL (CITYNEWS) – Many asylum seekers in Canada are now front-line workers in hospitals and care facilities across the country, and they are wondering what their future holds after the COVID-19 crisis.

A Nigerian woman seeking asylum in Montreal caught COVID-19 after working seven days a week in a long-term care facility. Like many asylum seekers putting their lives on the line, she doesn’t know if she’ll be deported after the pandemic.

“Right now, I am still not certain if I can stay or go,” she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions from her employer. “With all that is happening, it makes the whole thing very stressful.

“We love what we do, that’s why we work. We see Canada as our home. That is why, even with the virus, if I get better, I still intend to work because I know they are short staffed.”

In 2018, the woman crossed Roxham Road – a much-used point of access from the U.S. into Quebec – with her husband and three young children.

A community group – Maison d’Haiti – estimates that 1,000 of the 5,000 Roxham Road refugee claimants are working in long-term care facilities.

“You are not going to say to all those people who were on the front lines, ‘thank you very much, go back to your country,’” said Marjorie Villefranche, executive director of Maison d’Haiti.

RELATED: Canada-U.S. border closed for asylum seekers 

Since being diagnosed with COVID-19 due to inadequate PPE, the front-line worker is off work and not getting paid. She says her employer, who pays her $13.72 an hour, was not returning her calls.

“We had no mask,” she said. “We wanted to leave because the materials weren’t provided for us to work, but we changed our minds because we know that it will affect the old people. Two days later, that’s when I fell sick.

“Our lives don’t matter. They never called to know how we were doing. They didn’t return our calls for weeks until I was ready to go back to work, that’s when they called back. It’s really not fair.”

There’s been a push and petition from several groups like Maison d’Haiti calling on the federal government to allow asylum seekers on the front-lines to stay in Canada.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s CAQ party was the only party in Quebec to vote down a motion asking the federal government to consider fast-tracking the immigration process of asylum seekers.

“I see that as a double standard,” said the front-line worker. “After this battle, when we stand for you and we get the verdict that we have to go back home, I see that as not being fair. We are risking our lives because this is our home.”