This past Friday, a South Korean family that had hopes of staying here and eventually becoming Canadian citizens was forced to leave the country due to what appear to be some misunderstandings between an employer and a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer.
Jimmy Jeong, his wife Chloe Seol and their two children, Daniel, 5, and Aiden, 4, are currently staying in Vietnam with a friend of Jimmy's while they work with a Calgary lawyer to get their work permits reinstated. Jimmy says this process could take until late January or as long as a year.
What a horrific situation -- shortly before Christmas. Let's hope this matter is cleared up as soon as possible -- hopefully closer to that late January date.
According to friends, the Jeong family are the kind of immigrants Canada says it wants — well educated, hard-working people who make a concerted effort to fit into the community as a whole.
Jimmy has a degree in public relations. Chloe is a web designer with university education in Korean and English literature. Their kids were apparently doing well in school.
In his spare time, Jimmy became a very enthusiastic, active member of Citizens On Patrol. His efforts with that group were profiled in a National Post story earlier this year. That's more than many longtime Olds residents have done.
Jimmy says the family wants to not only come back to Canada, but to Olds specifically. He says they love the community and their kids were not only doing well in school but also adapting to Canadian life.
The family hopes to obtain permanent residency and eventually become Canadian citizens.
That desire is underlined by the fact that according to Jimmy, the family has not fully moved out of the house they rented in Olds. They just took the summer clothes they'll need in Vietnam.
In contrast, Jimmy says when they moved from South Korea to Olds, they "gave up everything back home," and sold their home and vehicle.
As family friend Jon Allan says, they are "an ideal educated and young family," and "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."
The CBSA should reverse its exclusion order and allow the Jeong family to return to Olds as soon as possible so they can continue to contribute to this community.
