Costa Rican Family Deported on Canada Day
CBC News

A Toronto family has been deported to their native Costa Rica after exhausting all avenues to stay in Canada.

The Lizano-Sossa family boarded a plane at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Saturday after an emotional farewell.

Gerald and Francella Lizano-Sossa arrived in Canada five years ago on a visitor visa with their children, Gerald Jr., now 14, and Kimberly, 15. A second daughter was born in Canada two years ago. The couple applied for refugee status, claiming to be on the hit list of a drug cartel. They were turned down.

Gerald Lizano-Sossa thanked the community and members of the media on Saturday for offering to the support to his family.

"They want to take me out of the country, but nobody can take Canada from my heart," he said.

His daughter Kimberly, her voice cracking with emotion, said she dreamed of returning to Canada some day. "We leave today, but we'll be glad to come back any time."

The Lizano-Sossas made national headlines this spring when the teens were pulled out of school and taken to a detention centre while immigration officials tracked down their parents.

Public outrage over the move forced officials to release the children and grant the family a deportation extension in May so the two older children could finish the school year.

On June 28, a federal court judge rejected the family's request for a deportation extension, ruling there was no compelling reason to allow them to stay longer.