Mexican teen's friends to fight deportation order (from Canada; teen's lesbian sister denied asylum)

[alp227]

Supporters of a teenage refugee claimant from Mexico are appealing to authorities to reconsider a decision to deport him to his homeland.

Daniel Garcia, a student at Parkdale Collegiate in Toronto, is scheduled to be deported to Mexico on Saturday. Protesters will rally outside Federal Court in Toronto later Friday and will file a motion to stay his deportation.

"At this holy time of year, deporting one of Parkdale's students is counter to everything we tell the world of Canada's humanitarianism," Cheri DiNovo, MPP for Parkdale High Park, said in a statement.

(snip)

Garcia, 18, and his sister Brenda, 30, arrived in Toronto three years ago. Brenda Garcia said she was threatened in Mexico for being a lesbian. She said her partner was shot to death for being gay.

Both said they feared for their lives in Mexico, but their refugee application was denied. The judge did not believe Brenda Garcia's claims of persecution, and she was deported to Mexico City on Monday.

Daniel Garcia was arrested last Thursday...

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/12/31/mexico-teen-deportation651.html

Some background information and contrasts:

In March 2010, an American immigration judge granted asylum to a German family who wanted to homeschool their kids but couldn't due to German law.

In July 2010, the Supreme Court of Mexico the Mexico City law that allowed same-sex marriage, which has been legal since March 2010. In contrast, same-sex marriage has been legal nationwide in Canada since 2005. And the Catholic influence in Mexico leads to socially conservative attitudes.

Wikipedia on anti-gay hate crimes in Mexico:

In mid-2007, Emilio Alvarez Icaza Longoria, then-chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Mexico City, said he was deeply concerned that Mexico City has the worst record for hate crime because of homophobia, with 137 crimes between 1995 and 2005.<15> Likewise, the journalist and author of the book, "Homophobia. Hate, Crime and Justice, 1995–2005", Fernando del Collado affirmed that during the decade covered in the edition 387 hate crimes due to homophobia were committed in Mexico, 98% of which has gone unpunished up until now.<15>

The New York Times and CBC reported on a 2007 influx of Mexican refugees in Windsor, Ontario (a city near Detroit, Michigan in the US).

In 2005, Canada relaxed its immigration laws to attract Mexican immigrants in response to the increasingly restrictive American immigration laws.