To:  queerswithoutborders@lists.riseup.net
Cc:
Subject: [queerswithoutborders] Fwd: (en) Canada, CALL IMMIGRATION: SUPPORT WENDY MAXWELL
!
Date: Mar 07 2005, 08:48 PM

This from A-Infos: bisexual woman arrested in Canada on International
Women's Day and threatened with deportation.
Latest news at:
 http://ocap.ca/wendy

john

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Worker (Mick mickblack47-A-yahoo.com)
> Date: 7 March 2005 07:16:34 GMT
> To:  a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
> Subject: (en) Canada, CALL IMMIGRATION: SUPPORT WENDY MAXWELL!
> Reply-To:  a-infos-en@ainfos.ca
>
> ________________________________________________
> A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
> News about and of interest to anarchists
>  http://ainfos.ca/  http://ainfos.ca/index24.html
> ________________________________________________
>
> Friends and comrades, I'm posting this urgent appeal for solidarity on
> anarchist list-servs due to the fact that Punching Out (NEFAC Toronto)
> members are involved in this campaign and we feel that it requires
> immediate international solidarity.
> Wendy recently spoke on a panel discussion on sex-workers struggles
> hosted
> by Punching Out and is a vocal activist with the "Don't ask, Don't
> Tell"
> campaign that Punching Out is involved in. See:
>  http://www.dadttoronto.org/
> Please call, fax, and email the Canadian immigration minister, sign the
> on-line petition, forward this email, and stay tuned for more
> information.
>
> We are also seeking to raise emergency funds for Wendy's release from
> jail, as well as endorsements and statements in support of Wendy from
> Community, Labour, Women's, Anti-Racist, and Immigrant Defence
> organizations as well as all other social movements. See
>  http://ocap.ca/wendy for breaking updates.
>
> UJOLI (solidarity),
> Mick, Punching Out (Northeastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists,
> Toronto)
>
> --------------------------
> Subject: (Toronto) MONDAY - CALL IMMIGRATION: SUPPORT WENDY MAXWELL!
> SUPPORT WENDY MAXWELL'S BID TO STAY IN CANADA
>
> MONDAY, MARCH 7: PHONE, FAX, EMAIL THE MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION!!!
>
> --Please take 5 minutes on Monday to contact the Minister of
> Immigration
> and urge him to allow Wendy Maxwell to remain in Canada-- READ ON!
>
> On Saturday March 5th at the International Women’s Day rally at
> Jorgenson
> Hall at Ryerson University, a woman was arrested by 51 Division
> officers
> while selling cookies to raise money for CKLN Community Radio. Her
> crime:
> living in Canada with out Immigration status. Wendy Maxwell, also
> known
> as Nzinga, is now in jail at the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton. She
> could be deported at any time.
>
> Nzinga is a talented and strong Black Woman who is an active member of
> our
> community. Many who have met her either as a colleague, friend, or
> through
> her community work admire her tenacity and humility. These are the
> type of
> people our community needs. Born in Costa Rica, she is a woman of
> Jamaican descent who has had to contend with police repression, the
> violence of organized crime, and now the racism of Citizenship and
> Immigration Canada. After six productive years in Canada and
> continuous
> community involvement, she faces imminent deportation to a dangerous
> and
> uncertain future even though she has an application for landed status
> filed with Immigration Canada that has yet to be adjudicated.
>
> Nzinga faces serious risk if forced back to Costa Rica. She was once
> picked up by the Costa Rican police, well known for racially profiling
> Black people, and sexually assaulted by them. She also faces risk as a
> bisexual woman from the police, whose homophobia is well documented.
> One
> Costa Rican research group states that “lesbian women are exhaustively
> searched in round-ups at clubs frequented by gays and lesbians and are
> also subject to aggression, physical abuse and robbery by the police
> who,
> in most cases, claim they were looking for drugs”. Added to this, she
> faces serious risk from a dangerous Costa Rican gang which she has had
> dealings with in the past. Given the homophobic and racist nature of
> the
> police, it is to be expected that she will not be able to obtain
> protection from them against this gang. Nzinga is still coping with
> serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (documented by Psychologists at
> the
> Toronto Rape Crisis Centre and other clinics) due to the abuse she
> experienced in Costa Rica. Sending her back will re-inflame her
> psychological problems and stop her healing process.
>
> Despite this, Immigration Canada determined that she would not be at
> risk
> if deported and ordered her to fly back to Costa Rica on December 1,
> 2003.
> She was forced to go “underground” and filed a humanitarian and
> compassionate leave application for status soon after that (in
> February of
> 2004) on the basis of risk and establishment.
>
> Nzinga has worked tirelessly in the community as a volunteer at CKLN
> 88.1
> FM Community Radio. She has also worked with the Latin American
> Coalition
> to end Violence Against Women (now called MUJER), the Barbara Schlifer
> Commemorative Clinic, the Ralph Thornton Community Centre as a network
> administrator’s assistant, the Global African Congress, and as an
> outreach
> worker with the Black Coalition for Aids Prevention (BlackCAP). Her
> work
> is also being published in “A New Look at Heterosexism and Homophobia”
> being put out in collaboration with the McGill University for the
> Canadian
> Aids Society. She has been employed through out her 6 years in Canada.
>
> JOIN THE STRUGGLE TO SUPPORT WENDY MAXWELL
> YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED!
>
> MONDAY, MARCH 7th : CALL, FAX, OR EMAIL THE IMMIGRATION MINISTER
>
> The Minister of Immigration, Joe Volpe, has the authority to intervene
> in
> any Immigration case. Please contact his office on Monday and urge him
> to:
>
> * Grant WENDY MAXWELL a Temporary Resident’s Permit so that she can
> remain in Canada legally until her Humanitarian and Compassionate Leave
> application for permanent resident’s status is decided upon (the
> application was filed in February of 2004 and has been in the system
> for
> over a year now).
>
> * Release Wendy Maxwell from custody immediately
>
> If you are part of any broader organizations, please encourage them to
> contact the Minister as an organization in support of Wendy Maxwell.
>
> In Toronto: (416) 781-5583 (p) (416)781-5586 (f)
> In Ottawa: (613) 992-6361 (p) (613)992-9791 (f)
> Email:  Minister@cic.gc.ca
>
> SIGN A PETITION SUPPORTING WENDY:
>  http://users.resist.ca/~gidget/petition.shtml
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