It's been almost two months since a family living in Park Extension was torn apart.
Sabir Mohammed Sheikh and his wife Seema are originally from Pakistan.
They were deported from Canada in July for making errors in their immigration application, but the Sheikh's four children were allowed to remain.
Ever since, the family's older siblings have been taking care of their five-year-old sister.
21-year-old Sami admits he would rather be paying more attention to his studies, instead of being the man of the house.
He says it's not fun having to "take care of the apartment, pay bills, rent."
"We'll try our best but we can never replace parents," said Sami. "We're not parents. They need to come back."
The Sheikhs had been living in Canada for almost a decade as refugees from the political and sometimes violent turmoil of Karachi.
In 2007, immigration officials learned the family had lived in Dubai before coming to Canada, and that information had not been included in their application, so the couple was deported to the U.S.
Now the family's lawyer is filing an appeal.
Stewart Istvanffy says the children will eventually follow their parents, and that could equate to a violation of human rights.
"They've never lived there," said Istvanffy. "Most of their life they've lived in Canada and we just dump them back into one of these crime-ridden terrorist-run cities on the face of the earth."
The Sheikhs are currently living in New York, where they've filed for refugee status in the United States in an effort to buy more time.
"We are hoping that we should get justice from the federal court and we can join our family," said Sabir.
The family is getting help from international groups, which have taken to the streets to protest against Immigration Canada's decision.
"This family has been living and working here for ten years," said Sarita Ahooja. "They are a very active family in the Park Ex community."
Istvanffy says people are increasingly reacting to what he calls the growing disregard of Canada's deportation machine.
"We're deporting people without really looking at the rights to family life. the protection of children's rights at fundamental rights in international law," said the lawyer.
It will take months for a decision on the Sheikh appeal.
If it fails, it's either to New York or back to Pakistan.
