Time is running out for the Batalla-Charris family. Settled in Sherbrooke since 2015 after having fled to Spain from Colombia, the asylum seekers are facing deportation this Wednesday, November 27, unless they can find a sympathetic voice within the immigration system to hold the door open a little longer. Edwin Moreno, project coordinator with the Federation des Communautes Culturelles de l’Estrie explained that the family, who left their initial attempt at a new life in Spain when faced with repeated issues of racism, are currently waiting on a request for asylum on humanitarian grounds, which is under review. “The Batalla family arrived here five years ago,” Moreno said, explaining that Carolina Batalla runs a local daycare and the family’s eldest two children are enrolled in the school system. The asylum claim, he added, would put the family on a path to be able to apply for permanent residency, but only if the members aren’t deported first. See full story in the Monday, Nov. 25 edition of The Record.
