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IMMIGRATION
BC HOUSING
New West family faces deportation
Changes coming to housing project
Sapperton event backs a Royal Columbian Hospital worker and her family who want to stay in Canada
Theresa McManus
tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
Julie MacLellan
jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca
For nearly two years, Claudia Zamorano has been quietly working to help keep hospital patients safe in the face of COVID-19 through her work as a housekeeper at Royal Columbian Hospital. Now she faces the prospect of being deported from the country she has called home for more than four years. Zamorano and her family — her mother-in-law Leticia Bazan Porto; her brother-in-law Isaias Liberato Bazan; her husband Andres Liberato Bazan and their nine-year-old daughter Evangeline — are all facing deportation to Mexico while they await a decision on their ongoing application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Sanctuary Health, a grassroots community group that advocates for migrant justice, held a press conference at Sapperton Park Wednesday morning to draw attention to the family’s plight. The family fled Mexico in 2017 under threat from organized crime.They’re now living in New Westminster, where Evangeline is set to start Grade 4 in the fall — but they may not be allowed to stay. Since the pandemic began, they haven’t qualified to stay in Canada despite some federal programs designed to regularize the immigration status of Continued on page 3
SUMMER NIGHTS: Fridays on Front has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic with another summer full of street party evenings — and the community has embraced its return. Check out more on page 9 of this week’s edition. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
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Work on a supportive housing project planned in downtown NewWest is expected to get underway soon, but it will be a little different from what was originally planned. In December 2021, council approved an official community plan amendment and a rezoning to allow a 52-unit supportive housing project at 60 to 68 Sixth St.The original plan called for a four-storey modular building, but that plan has now changed. “Originally anticipated to be a modular housing development, BC Housing has informed the city that, although the modular construction is technically feasible, they are reverting to a traditional wood-frame construction due to site constraints (site size) and market conditions,” said a recent city staff report. “Managed by a non-profit agency, preference for these units will be given to the locally unsheltered, with city staff and homeless outreach workers contributing to such decisions.” The report said occupancy will take place in 30 to 36 months, if final funding is approved.
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