Petition signatures in support of Danilo de Leon sent to Minister Fraser

Petition signatures in support of Danilo de Leon sent to Minister Fraser

By Nestor Burgos

The Philippine Reporter

VANCOUVER—An initial list of signatories supporting the granting of permanent resident status to Filipino migrants’ rights leader Danilo De Leon has been formally submitted to the Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.

More migrants’ rights advocates have spoken up in support of Danilo and joined appeals to the federal government to let him stay in Canada.

The migrants’ rights organization Migrante Canada in a statement said it has sent by mail 275 signatories of a petition calling on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to allow De Leon to permanently stay in Canada and stop his impending deportation.

The signatories, which were also sent to Prime Minister Justine Trudeau and Members of Parliament Marco Mendicino, Marie-France Lalonde, Christiane Fox, Jenny Kwan, and Brad Redekopp, were collected from various place and events including church services, door-to-door knocking by youth and student volunteers, house visits, community meetings, and migrant gatherings, according to Migrante Canada.

The petition is in support of De Leon’s application to be allowed to stay in Canada and granted permanent residency under Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds. A similar online petition has gathered 1,537 signatures as of April 8 (https://www.change.org/p/let-danilo-de-leon-stay-in-canada).

De Leon and his supporters have appealed to allow him to stay in Canada because they said he faces “grave risk” of political persecution if he returns to the Philippines.

Migrante is among the progressive organizations that have been continuously “Red-tagged” or labelled as “terrorist” by the Philippine government. Many lawyers, journalists, environmental activists and political dissenters who have been Red-tagged” have been killed or arrested in the Philippines.

De Leon came to Canada in 2009 as a foreign temporary worker and worked for a cleaning company in Alberta. But he lost his status in 2017 after the IRCC denied his application for a bridging open work permit.

The IRCC denied his application for Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) last year. The PRRA ensures that those removed from Canada and sent to another country are not in danger of torture, persecution or face risk to life or of cruel punishment.

De Leon’s appeal continues to draw more support from migrants’ rights advocates including from the church, academe, and grassroots organizations all over Canada.

KAIROS, an ecumenical program administered by the United Church of Canada, voiced support for De Leon in a letter to Fraser.

“KAIROS adds our voice to those advocating for Danilo to be allowed to remain in Canada pending a proper review of his case, and we support his application for Permanent Residency status. We look forward to your response to this urgent matter,” said Rachel Warden, KAIROS partnerships manager, said.

Vancouver-based law firm Tim Louis & Company has also written to Fraser in support of De Leon.

“The regularization program, given to you as a mandate from the Prime Minister and which is expected to be created by your office, will provide steps to regularize the status of undocumented workers like Danilo de Leon who are already contributing to Canadian communities,” said Tim Louis in his letter.

In her letter to Fraser, Canadian professor Leonora Angeles, director of the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice of the University of British Columbia, cited De Leon’s work for migrants’ rights and welfare and as an essential frontline worker delivering goods especially at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If Danilo came to Canada as an international student and not as a temporary worker, Danilo would have a clearer pathway to citizenship, helping fill our labour shortages and contributing to our national and local economy…I join other academics, migrants’ rights advocates, many elected officials, teachers, and unions in supporting his campaign to stay as a permanent resident,” Angeles said.

Another academician, Adam Perry, Assistant Professor of Adult Education at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, cited De Leon’s strong links to the community in his advocacy for migrants’ rights.

“Losing Danilo would be a big loss to the communities that he has been a part of since coming to Canada. I implore you to consider approving Danilo’s Humanitarian and Compassionate Application. You would be doing the right thing,” Perry said.

Progressive independent filmmakers Marie Botti and Malcolm Guy have also written to Fraser in support of De Leon.

“We first met Danilo in 2011 when we were working on a documentary film for Radio-Canada about Canada’s increasing reliance on temporary workers. His willingness to participate in the film and share his story showed his commitment to organizing for workers’ rights and welfare in Canada,” they said.

They pointed out that De Leon “has continued to fight for justice and equity for migrant workers. He helped organize a union of a multinational workforce when he worked as a cleaner at the University of Alberta.”

“We join with migrants’ rights advocates, elected officials, teachers, and unions in supporting Danilo’s campaign for permanent residency status. The regularization program that your office is expected to create will provide a pathway for workers like Danilo, who are already contributing to our communities, to become permanent residents,” they said.

In Vancouver, Lina Vargas, founder and president of the Diversity Inclusion Support Group of BC, also expressed support for De Leon.

“In the spirit of inclusion and diversity, I hope that Canada will allow him to stay and continue to work and live here,” Vargas said in a letter to Fraser.