Facing deportation, mom wants baby back

Facing deportation, mom wants baby back
By TOM GODFREY, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: October 22, 2010 6:17pm
Toronto Sun

Canada- A mom of two who is facing deportation to Jamaica is fighting to get back her daughter who was taken from her by child welfare workers just two days after her birth at a Burlington hospital.

“I am totally heartbroken and devastated,” the 30-year-old sobbed from jail.

“I wasn’t even allowed to hold my daughter for one last time before they took me away.”

The baby was seized at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital by the Halton CAS in March over concerns about her safety since the mom had no status in Canada.

The mom was allowed to visit the tot for an hour monthly at a CAS office in Niagara Falls and was arrested there Oct. 7 on an outstanding warrant as she was about to see her daughter.

She also has a four-year-old son who is being looked after by relatives. The mom suspects a former boyfriend tipped off immigration authorities.

She is being held at a Rexdale Blvd. detention centre and will appear in a Milton family court Thursday to try and get custody of her daughter. She is scheduled to be sent back to Jamaica the next day.

“I have only seen my daughter a couple of times,” she said. “This is an injustice that has been done to me.”

She didn’t expect immigration officials to be called after checking into the hospital.

“I told the officials at the hospital that I had no immigration papers and I didn’t think they would contact the authorities,” she said from detention. “I haven’t seen my baby in more than a month.”

She arrived in Canada in 2001 as a visitor and overstayed her visa.

“I want my baby back,” she said. “I want to take her home with me.”

Immigration consultant Roy Kellogg said even if the mom is granted custody Thursday she would require travel documents to take the child, who is Canadian, to Jamaica.

“This child can become a ward of the state if she remained in Canada,” Kellogg said. “There is no way she can obtain a passport in time to return to Jamaica with her mother.”

The child was taken after workers at the hospital learned the mom was in Canada illegally and began investigating, he said.

“There was a concern that the child may not have a safe environment,” Kellogg said. “She even has an aunt willing to sign a bond and look after the child.“

Hospital spokesman Julie DePaul said she couldn’t comment on the case citing privacy laws.

Halton CAS also refused comment.