Good evening. Thank you for inviting me to share my story.
My name is Mercedes Benitez, and I am a mother and a caregiver. I came to Canada in March 2008 under the live-in caregiver program. My husband, Romeo, and sons, Harold and Bill, are in the Philippines. When I first came to Canada, Harold was nine and Bill was 14 years old. I applied for permanent residence in 2010, after working for two years. In my application, I included my son and my husband. While I was working in Canada, I missed Bill's high school graduation because my husband and I agreed that I should focus on completing the requirements of the live-in caregiver program. Even though it was very hard for me not to be there to celebrate my son's graduation and to miss my boys' birthdays and all our Christmases together, we could bear it because we knew that eventually we would be reunited. You cannot imagine the pain of a mother knowing that her sons are growing up without her.
In November 2015, after waiting five years, I received a letter from immigration saying that we might be refused because of Harold's intellectual disability. I was devastated. It hurts me to feel that Canada thought we were not good enough. The months of uncertainty since we received the letter have been some of the hardest months of my life. I had chest pains; at times I thought I was having a heart attack from the stress. There were so many sleepless nights worrying that any day I could be refused and sent back home after working so hard for so many years. I was afraid. Who would provide for my family? Sometimes it was too much to bear and I thought of giving up, but my family relies on me for support. I am the sole breadwinner. I needed to be strong.
In Canada, it is said that everyone has equal rights, but the decision to find me and my family inadmissible based on my son's disability made me question this. I was eventually able to get legal assistance, and just two weeks ago I was told we would be approved for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. I couldn't believe it. I feel as if I won the lottery. I am so grateful, but I wonder about others who are also in the same situation that I was. I'm not sure how many of you are parents, but put yourself in the shoes of a mother who is being told that she cannot stay in Canada because her child has a disability. Excessive demand should be eliminated because there should not be any more mothers crying every night or children discriminated against based on their disability or health condition. We need change now.
Thank you for listening.