A group of Nova Scotians came together on Saturday to support a man in sanctuary in British Columbia.
Jose Figueroa is originally from El Salvador but he has been living in Canada for 17 years.
The federal government declared Figueroa “inadmissible” five years ago because he admitted to being a student recruiter for the Farabundi Marti National Liberation Front, which is a group resisting the U.S. backed military dictatorship in El Salvador.
The Canadian government came to regard the group as a threat following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centres in New York on September 11, 2001.
Figueroa has been in sanctuary inside a Lutheran Church in B.C. and on Saturday people in Nova Scotia held a vigil in a Halifax Lutheran church to show their support for him and his family.
“It’s pretty horrendous. This man has lived in Canada legally for 17 years. He has three Canadian-born children who’ve only ever known this country and yet the government is now turning around and deciding to deport him,” says Ruth Bishop who organized the vigil.
Figueroa may know as soon as Monday whether the Canadian government will allow him to stay in the country.
