Christina Schiller is concerned her family could be torn apart.

Schiller and her daughters, 19-year-old Kiara and eight-year-old Mia, moved from Hungary to Regina in 2011, when Christina married a Regina man she met online. But the relationship ended when he became abusive.

With no money to return to Hungary, the family was forced to stay in Canada. Christina married another man, with whom she had Jayden, her now five-year-old son.

The family’s visitor status expired in January. Last November, they applied to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, which can be granted if an immigrant can’t return to their home country to apply for permanent residency in another country. Schiller said applying for this status was the only option she had.  

“I don’t qualify under the work program,” said Schiller. “We don’t have sponsors for the kids to go to school and we’re not refugees.”

But the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) denied their request. Schiller said they were never informed why.

“We’ve heard nothing from them,” she said.

A court agreed in January to hear their case. Until a decision is made, IRCC has allowed them to stay.

If they are deported, Schiller says they would have to leave Jayden behind with his father because Jayden is Canadian by birth.

“[It’s] totally devastating,” said Schiller. “I cannot even tell you how painful that would be. How do you tell a child that they might lose their mother?”

She says Jayden doesn’t know about their situation. They won’t tell him unless they’re deported.

“We just keep things as normal as we can for him,” she said.

IRCC told INKnews they were “unable to provide an interview,” but provided a statement regarding the family’s case:

“[The family’s] visitor status expired three times, the last one until October 2013. The decision rendered on November 30, 2018, concerning Ms. Schiller’s application for permanent residence for herself and her children based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, has been set aside. Her application for permanent residence will be re-determined by IRCC.”

Despite recent difficulties, Christina’s daughter, Kiara, said things are starting to look positive. A pizza-night fundraiser held in January and a Go Fund Me page have, together, raised over $2,000.

Kiara says the community has been generally supportive during their battle with IRCC.

“They … told us that we’re good people and we don’t deserve what’s going on,” she said. “And that we would make good Canadians because we’re not bad people.”

She said she has seen some negative comments on social media, such as “Ship them back,” and “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

But she said those comments haven’t discouraged her family.

“They don’t know us and we’ve been doing the best we can,” she said. “People’s judgments and bad talk won’t stop our family from loving each other and fighting for each other.”

The money fundraised helped pay for legal support from Legally Canadian, an Ontario firm specializing in immigration law. The family’s lawyer agreed to offer services at a discounted price, as they couldn’t afford the full amount.

Christina is confident their lawyer can prove their case in court.

“We’ve got a lot of good paperwork and a lot of good supporting letters in now, which we didn’t have the first time around,” she said.

Legally Canadian declined to comment on the family’s case, citing attorney-client privilege.

Schiller said she is unsure how long their case will take. In the meantime, the family will try to continue with their lives. Kiara is planning to attend adult campus in the fall and Mia is expected to finish Grade 3 this spring. Christina is currently unemployed and looking for a job.

“It’s all very scary and very daunting,” said Schiller. “But we are just hopeful and positive that everything will work out.”