In-Home Caregiver Rosa Bautista: A Story of Adaptability and Resilience

Background

You will choose to write your memorandum on one ofthe followingclients. Their situations are as follows: 1. In-HomeCaregiverRosa Bautista is a child-care worker from the Philippines. She first came to Canada in August of 2017to work for the Anderson family in West Vancouver as an In-Home Caregiver,lookingafter their two children. However, in February of 2020, the Andersons’youngest child turned 18, and Rosa was no longer eligible to continue working for them, under the terms of her work permit. She found a new job working for Ruby Gill, the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville. She moved in toRuby Gill’s house as an In-Home Support Workerin the first week of March. Rosa’s job isto takecareof Ruby’s mother, who is not yet 65 years old, but who has a disability. However, things started to go wrong almost right away. Rosa was given heavy tasks to do, like cleaning the garage, and even moving boxes for Ruby’s brother’s packing company. She was asked to work very longhours, evenon weekends, and was told to do all of the cooking and cleaning for the family. Expenses forroom and board werededucted from her paycheck. Ruby even took Rosa’s passport, stating that she neededit to fill out paperwork. Worst of all, Rosasuspectsthat Ruby’s mother is not really disabled, meaning that Rosa is not complying with the terms of her work permit.

2Rosa’s work permit is set to expire in 4 weeks. She is not sure if Ruby can be trustedtorenew it, or that she can find a new employer in time. Rosa is willing to put up with this ill treatment because she is very close to achieving all 3900 hours of work that she needs to finally apply for permanent residence. She only needs to work the last remaining 600 hours, which she had planned to finish by the end of this summer.Rosa has been working in Canada these past threeyears, hoping tobe able to sponsor her 6-year-old son, Daniel,and her mother to come to Canada. She has missedher family, and it has been a tremendoussacrifice to leave her sonin the care of her elderly mother in the Philippines. But if Rosais found in non-compliance, it will all be for nothing. Rosa is worried, and she doesn’t know what to do. What can the ILC do tohelp Rosa? How should we advise her? 2. Semi-Skilled WorkerJavier Hernandezis a 34-year oldman from Honduras. He has a spouse, Liliana, and three young children who are all in primary school. After the Honduran coup of June 2009, Javier went to the United States for several years. Helived in Colorado and Arizona and worked as a long-haul truck driver for 7yearsbefore returning to Honduras. While in the US, Javier did not have a work permit, or any formal status. He was convicted in April of 2010 of Driving While Under the Influence(DWI)and paid a fineas his penalty after pleading ‘no contest.’Since returning to Honduras in 2016, Javier has worked on and off at odd jobs in construction, vehicle maintenance, and truck driving, but has not been able to find steady employment.Fortunately, Javier receivedahigh school diploma through a community program while he was living in Colorado.He has not taken an English test, but he speaks English fluently, and he is willing toimprove his reading and writing skills.Liliana also speaks English quite well. She has no formal education,but she worked in a meat-packing plant in Colorado for a fewyearsbefore havingchildren. Javierand Liliana very much want to leave Honduras to better the future of their family and their children. Theschools in Honduras areof poorquality, and free schooling is only provided until grade 6. They would like to leave very soon, becausetheir eldest daughter finishes elementary schoolthis year, and they cannot afford to send her to school in the fall. They have spoken to some cousins who live in Vancouver,and have decided that Canada may give their familya better life than the United States. Their cousin told Javierthat BC has a special program for low-skilled workers like himself. Is the Hernandezfamily eligible to immigrate to Canada? Are theyinadmissible? If eligible, what is their best path to immigrate? Can Javierget a work permit and come to Canada, while their application for permanent residence is pending? What canthe ILC do to assist the Hernandez family? 3. Family Members in Need of ProtectionFarid Abadi is a 48-year-old man who lives in Coquitlam with his wife and two children. He has a good job as a computer engineer with a local company, earning about $65,000 per year. Faridfirstcame to Canada from Syria on a work permit almost 20 years agoand is now a Canadian Citizen. 3Farid’s elderly mother, Umm Hussein, and his 19-year old sister, Amira, still live in Syria. Since Farid’s older brother left to live in Copenhagen with his familylast year, Umm Hussein andAmira have been living allalone. Umm Hussein is in poor healthand suffers fromdiabetes. Amira has finishedhigh school, but it isunsafe for her to leavethe house alone to go to work. Theonly income they have is the moneyFarid and his brother send to them every month. The security situation in the Damascus neighbourhood where Amira and Umm Husseinlive is deteriorating. There was a car set on fire last week. With the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the local shopshave run out of food. Farid is desperateto bring his mother and sister toCoquitlam to live with him as soon as possible. He has been asking around the local Syrian community, and some have told Farid that he can buyfalse Canadian passports on the black marketand fly his mother and sister here. They can claim refugee status at the airport. Others have suggested to Farid that Amira marry a Canadian who can sponsor her to come to Canada. Many Syrians do have arranged marriages.Farid is looking to find someone who iswilling to travel to Syria to conduct a marriage in person, as required by immigration. He does notknow if this isa good idea, and it has proven very difficult in a pandemic. Violence against women in war-torn Syria is endemic. Are Amira and Umm Hussein persons in need of protection? What does the ILC recommend as beingtheir best option to come to Canada on a path to permanent residence? 4. Humanitarian & Compassionate Class?Abida Parveen is a 22-year oldmother living in Surrey with her infant daughter, Jamillah, who is just16 months old. Abida marriedher husband, Jamal, in India two years agoin a marriage arranged by their families.Since Jamal wasa Canadian citizen, he sponsoredher to come to Canada. They mo