MONTREAL - A woman has been reunited with her young daughter and son in Montreal after being deported to her native Mexico last September.
Paola Ortiz was greeted at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport today with a never-ending stream of hugs from family, friends and supporters.
Ortiz's return came after the federal government finally agreed to grant her the status of permanent resident.
That request was initially refused under the pretext that Mexico had assured Canada that Ortiz, a victim of conjugal violence, would be provided adequate protection.
Her return marks the end of a nightmare that she first tried to flee six years ago.
Ortiz had been a victim of conjugal violence by her former husband.
Rosalind Wong of Solidarity Across Borders said that the group, which has lobbied or Ortiz throughout the process, only learned that Ortiz would be coming back about two days before.
The group argues that that Ortiz should never have been deported.
"It's a clear case of where there's a mistake for which there was no oversight provided by the Canadian immigration system," said Wong. "We had to go through Quebec and we're lucky that Quebec has its own immigration process."
