Montreal couple facing deportation to Mexico granted temporary residency

Jose Zumudio and Norma Quintana, and their three children, are facing deportation to Mexico, which they fled in 2018. (CTV News)

The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

"It was with immense relief and tears of joy that we learned last night that the removal had been cancelled and that we had been granted a temporary residence permit for six months," Jose Zamudio and Norma Quintana told CTV News in a statement. "This will allow us to apply for permanent residence on humanitarian grounds, and we hope more than anything that it will be granted."

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) contacted the family on Thursday night after a rally was held in support of them and their three children staying in the country. The family can now request a humanitarian permanent residence request.

To apply for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, the family must prove they need an exemption from one or more requirements in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or regulations to apply for permanent residency in Canada and that they are not eligible to apply for residency under any other immigration class, but that their situations justify consideration.

The family has lived in Montreal for six years after fleeing Mexico in 2018, following threats from a powerful drug cartel.

They made an asylum case, which was heard in 2021, and the Immigration and Refugee Board refused the request following a pre-removal risk assessment.

Their lawyer, Stewart Istvanffy, said the board believed they were in danger but that they could live elsewhere in Mexico.

Members of the family's Hochelaga-Maisonneuve community garnered more than 2,000 signatures on a petition pleading for them to stay.

"We would like to extend our warmest thanks to everyone who supported us," the couple said. "We've been blown away by the outpouring of sympathy we've received. We're moved and still speechless by all the solidarity, which reinforces our decision to choose Quebec as our new home. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."