We Are Jose. This is his Story.

 

Hello.  We hope you have had a chance to meet Jose Figueroa through his extraordinary talk recently at TED Vancouver.  We hope his story will compel you to support us and to act not just for him and his family, but so that we may work with government officials to help change the dangerous policies that have put him and countless of other Canadian immigrants at risk of deportation. In many ways, we are ALL Jose - what has happened to him could happen to any Canadian refugee, immigrant or Citizen because of a flawed and outdated immigration policy that fails to adequately understand the current Geo-politics  of today's world.

 

About Jose:

We are all Jose.  What happened to José Figueroa could happen to any one of us. Jose is a Salvadoran-Canadian living in the Langley, B.C, region just outside Vancouver for more than 14 years. He and his wife have three Canadian born children, all born in Canada. He is regarded as an honest man and a productive member of his community.

 

Twenty years ago, while in University, Jose was a member of a student group associated with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN)— a popular broad based coalition of groups that opposed the violent military dictatorship, responsible for killing thousands of innocent Salvadorans. After the civil war ended the FMLN became a political party and in 2009 it won the state elections and is the current democratically elected ruling party in the government of El Salvador.

Jose and his wife fled El Salvador and applied to Canada because he faced danger, having stood up against a repressive military dictatorship during the violent civil war in El Salvador. Canada accepted him on these grounds, but now so many years later, the government wants to deport him for the same reason he was allowed in now claiming that that his past association with the FMLN makes him a security threat because they argue ‘the FMLN committed acts of terrorism’ during the conflict. The IRB adjudicator stated that although Jose did not commit any wrong doing or acts of terrorism yet he was still to be deported and his only option was to apply for an exemption to the Minister of Public Safety, a process that takes up to 9 years for a decision and for which the majority of requests are denied.

Due to some overly broad legislation, Canada has mistakenly labeled the FMLN as a terrorist organization, and Jose by extension as a terrorist—when he stood up for human rights against a military dictatorship that used death squads against any opposition. This decision to deport Jose does not make sense and it is clear it is a mistake that needs to be fixed.

Recently, many supporters of the Salvadoran refugee were outraged by the Immigration and Refugee adjudicator's mis-informed ruling that he be deported because of his past association with the opposition movement. This issue created a significant amount of media attention to not only Jose's story, but to the larger themes surrounding his case, and those of many other innocent refugees in Canada.

Among his public and most vocal supporters, noted UBC professor Jerry Spiegel, recently stated that the FMLN was "...Emphatically not a terrorist group...."

 

A good man, husband and father's rights have been violated in Canada through misinformation and by the failure of some too afraid or unaware to act.

 

We believe we will make the difference.  We Believe in Jose.

The Impact of Your Donation.

 

With a modest legal defense and support fund, the We Are Jose Campaign can ensure that proper challenges to the laws are made and that Jose's story is explained to the officials who can reverse his deportation order and effectively change the current policies so innocent people like Jose are never mislabeled and deported from Canada again.

 

Our Goal is only $10,000 - But We Need Your Help.

We are asking anyone who believes in Jose and those supporters within the We Are Jose Campaign to make any donation possible to help us towards our financial goal of $10,000.  Whether it's $10, $100 or even $1,000 - our entire Campaign team would be grateful for your generous contribution.

 

We will be updating this page and also the We Are Jose Facebook page regularly in effort to make transparent and regular our disclosures of how the funds are being used to help Jose's cause.

 

Other Ways You Can Help:

Beyond any financial donation you might be able to pledge, please add your voice, your picture, your words - or all of them together in support of our campaign on Facebook - you can add your "Like" here:

http://on.fb.me/WeAreJoseFBPage

 

CURRENT LIST OF PUBLIC PROFILE SUPPORTERS OF JOSE FIGUEROA INCLUDE:

 

• Martin Sheen, Director, Actor and Human Rights Activist
• Christopher Ian Bennett, Former Leader, Green Party of BC and Human Rights Activist
• Romeo Dallaire, Senator and Retired General
• Nolan Watson, CEO of Sandstorm Resources and Founder of Nations Cry
• Maxwell Cameron, Professor of Political Science, University of British Colombia, BC
• Sasha Wood, Member of the We Are Jose Executive Committee & Volunteer
• Peter Kent, Minister of the Environment and former news journalist with Global Television
• Jamie Moffet, Director, Return to El Salvador (Documentary)
• Jerry Spiegel, Professor and Director of the Liu Institute for Global Studies, University of British Colombia
• Mark Warawa, Conservative Member of Parliament for Langley, BC
• Don Davies, NDP Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway, BC
• Peter Julian, NDP Member of Parliament for Burnaby-New Westminster, BC
• Sigfrido Reyes, Elected Member and President of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, FMLN
• Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
• Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Ontario Division
• Salvadorian Canadian Association of Ottawa and National Capital Region (ASCORCAN), Ottawa, ON
• Barrio Nuevo, Toronto, ON
• Jerry Spiegel, Professor Liu Institute for Global Studies, University of British Colombia,
• Katherine Reilly, Professor, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, BC
• Oswaldo Ventura, Coordinator, FMLN-Toronto, Toronto, ON
• Réseau de la commission populaire / People’s Commission Network, Montréal, QC
• Walnut Grove Lutheran Church, Langley BC
• Pastor Sebastian Meadows-Helmer, Thornhill, ON
• The Thornhill Ecumenical Ministerial, Thornhill, ON
• San Lorenzo Anglican Parrish and Community Centre, Toronto, ON
• Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Toronto, ON
• El Salvador Sister Cities Network, Milwaukee, USA
• Justicia for Migrant Workers, Toronto, ON
• International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, Ottawa, ON
• Radio Cadena Mi Gente, El Salvador
• La Re-Vista Radio, Vancouver, BC
• Comisión Internacional del FNRP
• El Comité Muralla 700 de Ottawa-Gatineau
• RAICES Latin American Cultural Society, Vancouver, BC
• The Louis Riel Bolivarian Circle/HOV, Toronto, ON
• Pastor Karl Keller, Langley, BC
• Pastor William Osmar Chamagua, Virginia, USA

 

On behalf of Jose and his entire family as well as the We Are Jose Campaign Executive team, thank you for your support.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions, or to arrange an interview or exchange with Mr. Jose Figueroa.

 

Christopher Ian Bennett

Director, We Are Jose Campaign 2012

bennett.partners@me.com

www.wearejose.com