A South Korean family who were living in Olds until last Friday, were forced to leave the country because their work permits have been revoked for what they and friends are calling some misunderstandings.
Jin Woo Jeong (also known as Jimmy) and his wife Chloe Seol along with their two sons, Daniel, 5, and Aiden, 4, are now living in Vietnam where Jimmy has friends.
They intend to try and get their temporary work permits reinstated with the help of friends and a lawyer in Calgary.
Jeong has a degree in public relations. Chloe is a web designer with university education in Korean and English literature. Both hope to obtain permanent residency and eventually Canadian citizenship.
Jimmy immigrated to Canada and ended up in Olds in January 2017 where he got a job as a supervisor at a local car wash detailing vehicles. Chloe joined him this past July. She worked from home as a web designer. Jimmy's employer was sponsoring his bid to obtain permanent residency.
They've been enthusiastic members of the community. In fact, in October, Jimmy was profiled in the National Post for his volunteer work in Olds, dedicating hundreds of hours with Citizens on Patrol. The kids were doing well in school, Jimmy says.
Their current troubles began in mid-November when Chloe's web designing work ran out. They went to the Carway port of entry at the Canada-U.S. border regarding Chloe's open work permit and to obtain visas for their children.
They could have applied online to do so, but decided to go to the border at the recommendation of others who said doing so was cheaper and faster than going online because Jimmy already had his work permit.
"Eventually that turned out to be a very bad decision," Jimmy says.
Jimmy says after a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer questioned him and phoned his employer, he was given an exclusion order requiring him to leave the country.
"She was very fierce and my employer agreed with everything she said (that) I was not doing the supervising job. After that she didn't listen to me and she said, 'your employer said that you're not supervising which means it's illegal for you to have this work permit and I cannot give you back the work permit.'
"We all said 'we love Canada, we want to live here permanently; that's why we're here,' but the officer eventually took statement (to mean that) like, we were trying to stay here illegally now."
Jimmy says there seems to have been a misunderstanding between the officer and the employer.
"My employer is not fluent in English like me," Jimmy says. "He was very surprised that somebody from the border called."
Jimmy says he learned English because he lived in Singapore which is an English-speaking country, for about 12 years and studied in the U.S.
"My family has been around," he says.
As a result of the situation, Jimmy is now unemployed.
Initially, the family was ordered to leave the country in November, but with the help of a lawyer, their stay was extended to Dec. 7.
Jimmy says best case scenario, he and his family hope to be back in Olds in January. Worst case scenario, he says, they may not get back here for a year.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by friends to assist the Jeong family with legal fees and income, now that he is unemployed. The goal is to raise $10,000. As of Dec. 6, $625 had been raised.
Red Deer-Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen has also been contacted for help in the matter.
A complaint has also been filed alleging that his former employer breached labour laws.
The family’s attorney, Calgary lawyer Rekha McNutt , provides the following statement on the matter:
“Jimmy and his family were issued exclusion orders at the Carway port of entry on allegations that they were 'immigrants' (ie. permanent residents), who were not in possession of immigrant (permanent resident) visas.
"This was the decision made even though the family clearly presented themselves to be granted temporary work permits and Jimmy has been compliant with his temporary status since arriving in Canada over two years ago.
"The port of entry has been thus far unwilling to postpone the hasty removal of his family, pending a court review of the reasonableness of the exclusion orders issues.
"The court challenge of the validity of the removal orders will continue and we are hopeful that they will be set aside, thereby allowing his family to return to Canada, “ McNutt adds.
Jimmy says the family is anxious to return to Olds as soon as possible.
"My wife, she loves Olds. She's so happy that my kids are excelling at school, adapting so well and she doesn't want to go anywhere else."
He says as a result, they haven't given up the home they've been renting in Olds.
"I'm leaving my house here. We have a rent and we have all our stuff here and my landlord and everybody is supportive; they said 'you should come back,'" Jimmy says. "We are leaving all our stuff here; just taking some summer clothes. My car, everything is here."
He says going back to South Korea is not really an option.
"We gave up everything back home. We sold our house, we sold our car. There's nothing left there (for us). Too costly to go there and then come back," he says.
Family friend Jon Allan is angry and frustrated with the whole situation.
"As an ideal educated and young family, the misunderstanding between them and CBSA is an unfortunate example of the Canadian immigration system’s flaws, which punish people actively hoping to become Canadian, while rewarding those who have the means of taking advantage of Canada’s normally generous humanitarian system," Allan wrote in a statement to the news media.
"They're very ideal immigrants in our society who integrate and hang out with us as Canadians and they speak perfect English and they're educated," he said in an interview. "These are close friends of mine. We hang out every single Friday.
"They've exhausted all their money. I've even donated $500 to them, just to try to do whatever I can."
Jimmy says representatives of the Town of Olds and RCMP have written letters in support of him.
"So many people have tried to support me and contribute. We are very angry about this situation but try to stay positive and try to fight it outside, legally. We don't want to do anything illegal because that's not what we are, so hopefully this turns out well," he says.
In an emailed response, CBSA regional communications officer Mylene Estrada-del Rosario did not refer to the Jeong case directly, saying she cannot do so, due to privacy legislation.
Instead, she sent the following statement:
"The decision to remove someone from Canada is not taken lightly. Everyone ordered removed from Canada is entitled to due process before the law and all removal orders are subject to various levels of appeal.
"Once individuals have exhausted all legal avenues of appeal/due process, they are expected to respect our laws and leave Canada or be removed.
"For information on applying for work permits, permanent residency, and citizenship, please visit the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website. For information on removal from Canada, please visit the CBSA website."
