Mexican journalist Karla Ramírez wins battle against deportation

No One Is Illegal put a call out of letters of support in January, after Ramírez' refugee application was rejected; responses soon came from Amnesty International Canada – which provided documentation of a worsening situation for journalists in Mexico – and other journalist rights groups.

“Our strategy, in terms of the campaign with Karla – and with regards to supporting other people facing deportation – is, first, to take leadership from people affected, to see how they want to mobilize support and what kind of strategies they want to fight their deportation,” Walia added. “The second is to then mobilize that support.

“We have networks of support we mobilize around deportations and detention, (and) we also raise issues around deportation and broader issues around policies.”

Ramírez said that the support of community organizations – particularly No One Is Illegal and the Vancouver South Cultural Project – was crucial, not only for helping keep her in Canada, but also for offering moral support and help during a “very, very stressful” time.

“I respect No One Is Illegal very much – they acted very quickly,” she said. “They worked fast, and were very organized.

“They (and the Vancouver South Cultural Project) were so human with us. It wasn't just a relationship of sending memos or just writing letters. We talked and reviewed our words until midnight some nights. They came and brought me a lot of food. I have two daughters to care for. It goes beyond organization or community work – that's love and it's very human.”

A chance to be free in Canada

For Ramírez, the next phase of her life is to continue putting down roots in Vancouver. That includes continuing volunteer work in the community, hosting her radio show on Latin American affairs, and beginning to write her memoir.

“I'm so happy, and my husband is, too,” she said. “We are still slowly trying to digest the information.

“This is a big, big chance for us to feel free. When I received the answer (from Citizenship and Immigration), it was very strange – I cried for many minutes. It's so hard to leave your motherland, but the reality is that many people in Mexico are very afraid.”

For Ramírez, the reality of corruption and violence that she fled in Mexico is one faced by too many others. And that direct experience, she said, has made her want to get involved in supporting other refugees' cases in the future.

“Miedo, to be afraid – it's so hard,” she said. “You finally get tired of being afraid. I won't eliminate (the fear) totally, but I want to try to learn how to live without its effects on my daily life.

“But you know something? I can't be alarmed all my life. If I'm not safe in Canada, where can I go? To another country? It would not be because I want to. My roots are here now – with my daughters. I don't want to have to run all the time. This is something I have to live with all my life. I can't go back.”

In January, Ramírez told the Vancouver Observer about her journey from Mexico to Canada. The 38-year old, who lives in Surrey with her husband César Casso and two Canadian-born children, was working at Mexico's influential culture ministry in 2002, where she alleges she uncovered a web of corruption among politicians and journalists. She photocopied and leaked thousands of pages of secret documents, including receipts of illegal transactions, she said, before receiving a series of death threats against her and her family. It was then she decided to seek safety in Canada.

“When you denounce corruption, you face consequences,” she said today. “This whole thing has been like fiction. . . it's surrealistic.

“The government is stealing so much and there's no safety – with the drug war, if someone wants revenge, they just kill you. That's it. Now I'm trying to digest my new life here and what I'm going to do.”

Larger problems for Mexicans seeking asylum

But with her permanent residence assured by her humanitarian and compassionate approval last week, she said that the “problems of the world are much larger” than her own individual struggle.

“If I weren't a journalist, I don't think people here in the media would have paid attention on the same level,” she said. “In our work, we always run a risk for the information we put out to the public.

“For many others at risk, their voices aren't listened to. Now, I am going to do what I can to study English, because I want to give voice to others, and I want to continue doing what I love: writing, being a journalist, and trying to work for the rights of others.”

That work on behalf of others, she added, means fighting for the rights of other refugee claimants, immigrants and temporary foreign workers.

“We have to fight,” she said. “In the case of refugee claimants, if you have a real, solid case, you have to fight very strongly.