Tamarri Lindo, a prospect for the Canadian Olympic track team faces deportation

BY: Priscilla Appiagyei

Tamarri Lindo, a student-athlete from York University and trainee with Canada's national track team is currently facing deportation. 

In 2019, Tamarri’s father, George Lindo and their family left Jamaica to Canada, seeking refugee status due to the threat of political assassination in Jamaica. Then in 2020, the family's refugee application was denied because the Immigration and Refugee Board defined the Lindos as unconventional refugee applicants. A member of the IRB stated, “Crime, including murder, is widespread throughout Jamaica… any risk they face is not personalized but rather one shared generally by all persons living in Jamaica.” 

This way of thinking is consistent throughout Lindo’s immigration case. In 2023 the family submitted a humanitarian and compassionate application. Which was denied 2 months later by Senior Immigration Officer, C4095. C4095 stated, “While country conditions in Jamaica may not be ideal, the country conditions are general in nature and would be applicable to most…” 

The Jamaicanization of crime in Canada  

George Lindo is a member of Jamaica’s People’s National Party, and due to this, there have been multiple attempts on his life. However, the Jamaicanization of crime in Canada (perceiving crime as a part of Jamaican culture) has prevented members of Canada’s immigration board from accepting his claims. Instead of analyzing crime systemically, in Canada crime is perceived as a part of Jamaican culture which results in the blaming and stereotyping of Jamaicans. 

For example, in 2003, the Chief of the Toronto Police Service Julian Fantino went to Jamaica, to investigate the origin of Jamaican crime. The Jamaicanization of crime is embedded in Canadian society and it is unlawful for members of Immigration, refugees, and Citizenship Canada to maintain these beliefs. 

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada claims to follow the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, under the Equality Rights, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without … discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour ….”  Claiming violence and murder as a part of every person in Jamacia’s experience, to invalidate George Lindo’s pleas for protection in Canada denies his families Equality Rights. 

Currently, the Lindo family applied for permanent residency in Canada however, they are still set to be deported to Jamaica in a few weeks.