A community is rallying behind a family of five that has been living in Montreal for six years and is now facing deportation in just a few days.
Jose Zumudio and Norma Quintana, as well as their three children, fled Mexico in 2018, and sought asylum in Canada. Their lawyers say keeping them in Quebec is a matter of life and death.
Their lawyer says they left the country following threats from one of Mexico’s powerful drug cartels.
“It’s one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the world and they were being threatened to get killed because they weren’t paying protection money,” said human rights lawyer Stewart Istvanffy.
Jose Zumudio and his children in Quebec. (Submitted photo)
In federal court on Tuesday, Istvanffy was trying to get a stay of deportation. The family has already been in Quebec for six years.
Their asylum case was only heard in 2021. They were refused by the Immigration and Refugee Board …