Public sympathy and support has been aroused by the plight of a 57-year-old Jewish woman from Yugoslavia who faces deportation from Canada for having resided in the country illegally for six years.
The woman, Gisella Confino-Levi, has been supporting herself by selling flowers outside a downtown subway station, always in the company of her dog. She left Yugoslavia in 1957 for Israel. There she met a man whom she married and the coupple move to Uruguay later that year. In 1973, her husband was arrested after he expressed outspoken criticism of government policies. He has not been heard from since. In 1975 she came to Canada with her son as a visitor and stayed on, contrary to the regulations that visitors who want to remain in the country permanently must return home and apply officially.
HAD SOUGHT TO OBTAIN AMNESTY
Ironically, Confino-Levi’s trouble stems from the fact that three years ago she voluntarily applied to the Canadian authorities for permission to remain in the country under the impression that the the government would grant “amnesty” to illegal aliens with no criminal record who came forward voluntarily. The granting of amnesty under these conditions was in effect about a decade ago, but not since then.
Since Confino-Levi’s story appeared in the press, people have come forward to act as her sponsors, calls have flooded the Immigration Department, the Mayor of Toronto was photographed kissing her and promising to intervene on her behalf, her flower patrons have come to her defense, and Immigration Minister Lloyd Axworthy promised to give the matter his personal attention.
It is believed that no Jewish individual has been deported from Canada since before World War II. In all cases where such a possibility existed, Jewish community agencies, most often the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society, have intervened.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
