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 ...