In a highly unusual move contradicting federal protocol, immigration officials went to a Toronto school yesterday and threatened to take away two young sisters if their parents, illegal immigrants, did not show up to turn themselves in within 30 minutes.
Their Costan Rican mother, who arrived in tears at St. Jude school a short time later, was taken to a detention centre with the frightened girls, age 7 and 14. But she was released into a friend's care last night with her daughters.
"This is very strange. I don't understand what happened," Alvaro Serdas said through an interpreter, of the incident involving his wife Denia Araya and daughters Lisbeth and Hacel. "I think maybe Immigration released them because they're scared they did something wrong in going to the school," said Serdas, who was shocked that officials would essentially threaten to hold children ransom to lure their parents out of hiding.
"All we know is that there was a call made to Ottawa and it was from there that came the order to release them," Serdas said last night. Fearful that their release was a sting operation to lure him and his two other children, aged 18 and 21, out of hiding, he said he probably wouldn't be reunited with his family until today.
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