Jose Figueroa is a free man

Frank Bucholtz photo
Jose Figueroa and his daughter face a battery of television cameras Wednesday, after he was given freedom from deportation by Canada Border Services Agency. He has been taking refuge at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church for the past two years.

Jose Figueroa walked out of Walnut Grove Lutheran Church today (Dec. 23), on his 49th birthday. He is a free man.
More than two years after taking sanctuary, the Langley City man, who has been in Canada for 18 years, was finally assured by the federal government that he would not be arrested and deported to his native El Salvador. An earlier decision said he was a member of what Canada once considered a terrorist organization. That organization is now the democratically-elected government of El Salvador.

There was a large turnout this afternoon to see him symbolically walk out of the church, then go back inside for some intensive media coverage. The media deserves a lot of credit for the ongoing publicity they have given this story, because that is one reason Canada Border Services Agency backed away from what was always a highly-questionable decision.
The local media, notably my former colleagues at The Langley Times, in particular Dan Ferguson and Monique Tamminga, as well as the Vancouver-based media have paid a lot of attention to his plight. He wasn't shy about contacting them, because he knew there was a lot of public sympathy for his position.

Walnut Grove Lutheran Church, his home church, also backed him to the hilt. Longtime pastor Karl Keller, who recently stepped aside from regular duties but continues to be involved, has had a lengthy relationship with the Figueroa family. Many members of the church have been strong supporters of the family.
Also of note is ongoing support from his neighbours and friends in Langley City, and from the Langley Teachers Association.
Figueroa gave credit to the new Liberal government for reversing the deportation decision. New Liberal MP John Aldag, who represents Langley City, and Conservative MP Mark Warawa, who had been trying unsuccessfully for years to get the CBSA decision reversed, made representation to Immigration Minister John McCallum last week, and the decision was made.
It's a wonderful Christmas gift for the Figueroa family. They still have a lot of challenges, after two years of Jose being unable to work, and significant legal bills. They have been gone without many things over the past two years.
One demonstration of just how much Jose Figueroa is determined to help others facing some of the same circumstances was when he told the assembled media that his first act on leaving the church would be to visit Rodney Watson, who has been taking sanctuary in a Vancouver church for the past six years.
Figueroa will be pursuing an education in the legal field and is likely to become an advocate for people caught up in such cases. CBSA may have unwittingly helped train someone who could make things very difficult for bureaucrats and politicians who fail to take humanity and common sense into consideration when they make decisions which have a critical and devastating effect on families.
We shouldn't be doing things that way in Canada.